Ichi Henko
by Edward the VIII
Summary: One change, and the world at large is affected. The young members of Team Seven never knew what their lives could have been. But on the eve of the Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha Mikoto makes a decision that will end up shifting the destiny of the Elemental Nations. Team 7-centric. Pairings undecided.
1. Chapter 1

**So... this is my first T-rated fic. A milestone? I don't know. It is interesting, though, for those who are familiar with my previous works.**

 **A few things I'd love to cover before we can get into the story itself.**

 **\- This first chapter is a single day told from three different perspectives, Naruto's, Sakura's, and Sasuke's. The following chapters will not feature this premise, but it is this way for the opening chapter as a way to define several things that are important for each character.**

 **\- Just because two people interact and/or become friends does not mean they will be paired together.**

 **\- There is more than 'one change' to the story, but there is only going to be one major change relatively early on that will radically shift _everything_. It won't happen in the first chapter, or the second... it might take a while before we get to it. But, if you pay attention, you'll see it when it happens.**

 **\- If you like the story, do _not_ forget to leave a review, and to favorite and follow the story. It means a lot to me.**

 **Anyways, that seems about it. Enjoy!**

* * *

Naruto was nervous.

Very, very (and about twenty more verys after that) nervous at the prospect of his first day at the academy.

Sandaime-jiichan had given him a rucksack for the academy. Upon opening it, Naruto discovered boundless amounts of school supplies - pencils, parchment, plastic shuriken and kunai, not to mention an inch thick leaflet detailing the rules enforced at the academy.

He hadn't been able to help himself. Soon, papers were strewn around his apartment, along with crude scribblings of stick figures along the walls. Plastic kunai lay at the foot of the windows, slightly dented. Out of all the things Sandaime-jiichan had given him, only the leaflet full of rules had remained inside of the bright orange backpack.

Now, on the eve of his first day, he was hurrying about the apartment, scooping up crumpled papers and broken pencils and cramming them into his rucksack. With only twenty minutes to go before he was supposed to be at the academy (and it was a fifteen minute walk to there), he knew he was in big trouble. He wasn't the type of person to agonize over being late - but Sandaime-jiichan had specifically _asked_ for him to not be late, and he really didn't want to disappoint his idol.

He flew out the door at a hundred kilometers per hour his face heated, sweat dripping down his whiskered cheeks. The rucksack was hanging loosely from one of his shoulders. Only a last minute thought had given him the sense of mind to actually lock his door, but after that, he was descending the stairs three at a time and flinging himself into the crowd that packed the streets in front of his apartment block.

Naruto felt rather small, stooping beneath the weight of a rucksack that was nearly the same size of his body. He had always been on the small side, considering he was two to three inches shorter than all the kids at the playground - even the girls - but he felt even smaller here, in the streets. The orange bookbag, bright and obnoxious as it was, seemed to do nothing to help people notice him. Nearly every ten strides he walked, someone would bump into him. Once or twice he was even knocked down, face red, dirt getting into the ever present scrapes on his knees and elbows.

The crowd thinned out slightly as he kept walking, and just ahead of him, Naruto caught a glimpse of a painted mask before it disappeared into the shadows once more.

Sandaime-jiichan must really care about him. Why else would he assign not one, but two of the elite ANBU to watch over him? He knew they weren't really trying to hide - if they were he would never be able to see them, no matter how hard he tried. But he could see them, usually. One keeping an eye on him twenty meters ahead, one twenty meters behind, and sometimes (usually around his birthday) one would survey him from the rooftops.

They weren't going to step in for a little bump every now and then, Naruto knew. They would only step in if something serious happened, like if a drunkard approached him with a knife and a loud mouth. _Then_ they would step in, faster than Naruto could even see, disarming, gagging, and carting away the man in less than twenty seconds.

Not that something like that happened often. But, it happened regularly enough that Naruto was thoroughly unfazed whenever it _did_ happen.

Thankfully, it seemed that he was on time. There was a crowd congregating still, standing before a raised platform where several chunin stood.

One of the ANBU appeared at his side. "Come on," the man's gruff voice said, seizing Naruto by the wrist. "Hokage-sama wants you up at the front."

Even if he had struggled, there was no breaking the shinobi's ironclad grip on his wrist. So, Naruto meekly allowed the man to lead him through the crowd. Once he was in his position, the ANBU promptly disappeared, as fast as he had come.

It was silent, for several long moments, aside from the sparse muttering that consumed the crowd. And then in a swirl of leaves appeared Sandaime-jiichan, swathed in his Hokage robes, his grey hair hidden by the red and white hat he wore.

The crowd began to cheer, clapping enthusiastically. Sandaime-jiichan took it all in stride, waving at the people congregated below him. He quickly found Naruto at the front of the crowd, offering the short blonde a smile, which Naruto readily returned ten times over, grinning up at the third Hokage.

Not that he listened to a single word of Sandaime-jiichan's speech. It wasn't that long, but it was mind numbingly boring, and before long Naruto found himself staring up at the sky, his matching blue eyes trying to pick up funny shaped clouds.

He did manage to catch the tailwind of it, though.

"I hope to see all of you fine boys and girls grow up into shinobi that Konoha can be proud of." Sandaime-jiichan said. "Classes will begin in twenty minutes. The rosters and a map of the building can be found just inside. I hope you _all_ have an excellent school year."

He offered all of the new academy students a smile. And then, just as he appeared, Sandaime-jiichan disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

There was a pause. And then all hell broke loose. Sobbing parents clinging onto their uncomfortable looking children. Groups of kids occupying great spaces, chatting adamantly. A road block at the academy entrance that took five minutes to clear.

Naruto found his name on the roster for class twelve, in room one-oh-one. The map was… difficult to decipher, and he honestly couldn't find his classroom on it.

He walked up to a mousy looking chunin for help. "Hello?" Naruto said, his voice high and squeakier than normal. "Do you know where room one-oh-one is?" he asked.

The woman surveyed him for a moment, her brown eyes cool. And then silently, without a word, she pointed down a hallway. Naruto beamed at her, shot a - "Thanks!" at her before darting off down the corridor she had pointed at.

His classroom was just at the end of the hall. A kind looking chunin was standing beside the door - his distinguishing characteristics being his remarkably tanned skin and a scar that ran above his nose.

He watched as Naruto approached. "Name?" the chunin asked, his curt voice a far cry from his kind demeanor.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

The man nodded, scribbling something down on the clipboard he held. Naruto waited a moment, to see if he would say anything else. When he didn't, Naruto squeezed into the classroom, glancing about with wonder in his blue eyes.

He was one of the first to arrive. Not looking any of his peers in the eye, Naruto hurried to an empty seat in the back of the class, and sat in silence as the room slowly filled up with kids.

Another long, boring speech by the kind looking chunin. Naruto spent it running his nails over the desk, his head propped up with an elbow.

They had to fill out some weird questionnaire. It ranged from stuff like what your favorite color was, to if you had gotten any shinobi training before entering the academy.

All of his pencils were broken, Naruto realized as he was rifling through his rucksack. He had to get one from a cup on the teacher's desk, flushing beneath the gaze of the kind chunin who glanced at him as he approached him.

There wasn't actually any critical thinking involved in filling out the paper, which Naruto was grateful for. He scrawled down his answers the best he could manage, skipping at least a third of the questions if they were too boring or too complicated.

About twenty minutes later, after the entire class was done - except a kid with a pineapple styled haircut, who was snoozing near the front of the class - the teacher called for them to pass their papers to the front. They did so, and a few moments later, once the questionnaires were piled up neatly on his desk, the kind looking chunin stepped back up to talk again. Naruto strained this time to hear what he was saying, sensing that it was probably important.

"For many of you, this is your first time _ever_ doing any actual shinobi training. Some of you, however, have been training since birth. This will provide some an unfair advantage…" the teacher said. "... but, do not be disheartened. So long as you work, and study hard, everyone can be at the top of the class. Before we continue, any questions?"

A girl at the front of the class with pink ( _pink?)_ hair raised her hand.

"Yes?" the teacher said.

The girl looked rather nervous to be put so suddenly in the spotlight, her ears blending in nicely with her hair. "U-um, Iruka-sensei… are we going to be doing anything physical today? I-I didn't bring any shuriken or…" Her voice drifted off.

Iruka-sensei smiled. "I'm glad you said that… Sakura, right?" She nodded. "A very fitting name." Iruka said. "But, to answer your question, in just a few moments I'll be taking you all outside. We won't be sparring or anything, but I want an idea of what you all know already."

A few kids began to mutter, confident smirks on their faces as they imagined showing their power off to their peers.

"No more questions, then?" Iruka said, the class lapsing into silence as he began to talk. "Good. Form a line, and once everyone is quiet and orderly we can go."

After a few minutes, they managed to cobble together something resembling a line. Iruka deemed it acceptable, and soon he lead them outside to a court yard. It was empty when they got there. There were several boxes full of senbon, kunai, and shuriken on a table - and about ten target boards were arrayed at the far end of the yard, each two to three meters apart with plenty of room to avoid getting into other people's areas.

"Don't move." Iruka said. He walked in front of the class, his hands behind his back. "I cannot express to you how _dangerous_ these weapons can be." he said, his voice low. "Do not play with them. Do not throw them at anyone. If you cut yourself, come to me immediately. _Do I make myself clear?_ "

The class exchanged nervous glances. "Yes, Iruka-sensei." they chorused.

"Good. Would anyone like to go first, and show the rest of the class how it's done?"

Nobody rose their hand, or stepped forward. Iruka pursed his lips together, surveying the class.

"How about you, Sasuke?" Iruka said, pointing to a boy who Naruto couldn't see. "The older teachers raved on and on about your brother… how about you show us what _you_ can do?"

"Fine." a childish, but gruff voice said. The boy called Sasuke stepped forward. The best word Naruto could use to describe him was black. Black eyes, black hair, black clothes. His face was soft, but the scowl marring it gave the impression that he was much older emotionally than he ought to be.

Sasuke strode forward, swiping six shuriken from the box on the table. The metal projectiles glistening in his bony fingers, he took his position on the line that marked where one would throw from, just in front of the middle target board.

He was silent, spreading his legs apart, clutching the shuriken tightly enough that his hands shook.

And then, with a _wisp_ , he let them fly. The shuriken flew through the air. Three of them clattered off the sides, while the other three hit the board with a thunk, forming a triangle shape around the center.

Iruka beamed. "Excellent work!" he said. "I can't recall anyone else hitting that many on the first try."

Naruto heard a kid in the class say - "I heard his brother's first try was _perfect_ …" It was clear that Sasuke had heard him, by the way his scowl intensified.

Iruka turned to the class, Sasuke returning to the line, looking sullen.

"There's not enough boards for everyone to get one to themselves. There's… nineteen of you, so pair up and whoever is left can take the tenth board."

There was a scramble. Naruto blinked, and it seemed everyone was partnered up. Even that Sasuke kid had a partner, some kid with red markings on his cheek that kept bellowing about how he was going to get every shuriken on the board his first try.

Iruka smiled at him, standing alone in between the nine other pairs. Was he imagining it, or did his teacher's smile look a little strained?

"You can take the last one, Uzumaki." Iruka said to Naruto, pointing to a board at the end of the line.

Naruto nodded, scooping up a heaping handful of shuriken, before darting to the line in front of his target board. Everyone had started by the time he had gotten there. Naruto observed them for a brief moment. Everyone was doing poorly, only getting one or two, a far cry from Sasuke hitting three on his first try.

He bit his lip, Naruto scooping up six shuriken from the pile at his feet. He took a deep breath, and then, let them fly.

Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the thunk that signaled he had hit his target.

It never came.

He opened his eyes to see not a single one of his shuriken had come close. Some had fallen short, while others had hit closer to the neighboring board than his own.

His face flushed red in shame. No one had missed _all_ of them on their first try. He waited, for the laughs, the jeers, once his peers and Iruka realized how pathetic his attempt had been.

But that didn't come either.

Naruto looked around. Quickly, it became evident that either no one had noticed his abysmal attempt… or… or they simply hadn't _cared_ enough to laugh, to jeer, to do anything to recognize him, even if it was to recognize him as a failure.

He watched, his face crestfallen, as everyone else continued on with the exercise. Friendships were being made. Iruka was walking from student to student, correcting their form, nodding approvingly whenever they made an improvement.

And here he was at the end, alone.

His face as pink as that Sakura girl's hair, Naruto stomped up to the target board, collecting his shuriken before darting back to the line. He readied himself again. Took a deep breath. And then, let them fly.

He kept his eyes open this time, and that only made it worse - as he watched the projectiles arc through the air, missing the target board by several feet at _least_.

His fists balled up at his sides. _"Come on!'_ Naruto thought to himself. _'You can do it, you can do it! Believe in yourself!'_

But when the third, and fourth attempt came up with the same result, he was starting to doubt his own words.

By the time he was readying himself for a fifth attempt, his face twisted horribly, Naruto hardly holding back tears, Iruka was calling them back in. Naruto took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He followed the rest of the class by dropping his shuriken back into the boxes back on the table, and then trailing behind them as Iruka lead them back to the room.

He was hardly even aware of the rest of the day, Naruto keeping his head down for pretty much the entire time. He couldn't get over it. It would have been better, _so_ much better if someone had simply laughed! But no. They hadn't cared, they hadn't paid attention to him - and that was proven further, as Iruka, nor anyone else paid attention to him for the rest of that unbearably long first day.

When the class was finally dismissed, Naruto was first out the door , despite the fact that he was near the back. He flew out of the building, and took off down the road, hampered only slightly by the orange bookbag slung around his back.

He was home in ten minutes, digging a key out of his pocket and twisting it in his lock.

Sandaime-jiichan was sitting on his ratty and aged couch. His hat was off, sitting at his side, the elderly Kage idly smoking a pipe. "I managed to find some time off to come and see you," Sandaime-jiichan said kindly, smiling at the sight of the little blond boy. "How was your first day, Naruto?"

He couldn't stop the tears coming down now. Shrugging off his rucksack, he threw himself into Sandaime-jiichan's arms, pressing his face into his Hokage robes so as to conceal his face. "I hated it!" Naruto cried. "It was terrible, I don't ever, ever, _ever_ want to go back there again!"

Sandaime-jiichan sighed, patting his back affectionately. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice soft and soothing.

Naruto bit his lip, tears streaming freely down his cheeks. "I-I don't want to talk about it." he said.

The man smiled. "That's alright," Sandaime-jiichan said. "If you don't want to, you don't have to." He continued to rub Naruto's back soothingly. "I can't stay much longer… but, how would you like to share a cup of ramen together?"

Naruto beamed, though his eyes were still watery. "Ramen!" he said happily.

Sandaime-jiichan chuckled, standing up. Naruto seized his hand, clinging to the man's side as… well, a grandchild would his grandpa. "Let's go," Sandaime-jiichan said, gently leading Naruto into the kitchen.

* * *

"Ow! That hurt, kaa-chan!"

Haruno Mebuki beamed, a pink brush in her hand as she ran it through her daughter's equally pink hair. "Sorry!" Mebuki said. "But you just look so cute!"

Sakura bit her lip. Her father let out a laugh that sounded more like a bark, clapping Sakura on the shoulder. "Go easy on the poor girl!" Kizashi said.

"I know, but look at her~!" Mebuki squealed. "I could just pinch her cheeks and kiss her and-"

"Please don't…" Sakura mumbled.

"Sorry, honey." Kizashi said sympathetically. "Her hair looks fine, honey." he said to his wife. "Besides, we should be going. We don't want little Sakura-chan to be late on the first day!"

"Alright." Mebuki said, looking defeated. She dropped the brush with a clatter onto the table. Sakura hopped down from the chair, smoothing out the front of her pink dress. The girl grabbed her father's hand - and the two of them went and waited at the door, as Mebuki quickly collected the last of what she needed. "Do you think she needs anything on her first day?" Mebuki practically screeched, looking feverish.

Kizashi laughed good naturedly. "She'll be fine," he insisted, letting go of his daughter's hand in order to give his wife a reassuring smooch on the cheek. "Let's go. Like I said, we don't want her to be late!"

Half dragging, half pulling Mebuki with them, the Haruno family departed - stepping out into the street. They weren't that far from the academy building, a few minutes at most, but considering their rather low status as a genin family - it would probably be best to be punctual.

Mebuki was still insisting that they had likely left something behind at the house, but Kizashi would have none of it. Sakura followed at her parent's side, a happy little smile on her round face, all too used to her parent's antics.

There was a big crowd in front of the academy, stretching from the base of the podium that had been hastily erected to nearly spilling out into the street.

The Haruno family took up a place near the back, considering they were one of the last to arrive. Kizashi scooped Sakura up, placing the girl on his shoulders so that she could properly see over the heads of the crowd.

Sakura beamed, spending the rest of the time before the speech playing with her father's dark pink hair. Mebuki and Kizashi engaged in quiet conversation, though their daughter paid no attention, too busy braiding Kizashi's hair.

Soon, however, the Sandaime appeared on the stage and the crowd went wild. The Sandaime seemed to take it in stride, gazing at the crowd as they cheered and whooped, although Sakura was oblivious, still happily playing with her father's hair.

Then, the Sandaime smiled, and the crowd settled down. "I don't think I have ever seen so many fresh faces for the academy as I do this year." he said, chuckling.

"But… onto the speech. The academy is a very important place, where all of you will hone your considerable talents, learn the basics our ninjutsu and taijutsu, and not to mention learn the history of our great village.

"This place is where boys will become shinobi, and where girls will be transformed into kunoichi. I implore all of you, every single last one of you, to work hard on your studies, to make new friends, to make these some of the best years of your life.

"I hope to see all of you fine boys and girls grow up into shinobi that Konoha can be proud of. Classes will begin in twenty minutes. The rosters and a map of the building can be found just inside. I hope you _all_ have an excellent school year."

He gave the crowd one last smile, before flickering away in a swirl of leaves.

There was a bustle to get to the door. Kizashi lifted Sakura off of his shoulders, setting her down on the floor.

It wasn't that long before they were standing in front of the door to her classroom, room one hundred and one.

"Are you going to be alright on your own…?" Mebuki asked, pressing a wet and sloppy kiss to Sakura's cheek, who pouted.

"I'll be fine, kaa-chan!" Sakura beamed.

Predictably. Kizashi had to drag Mebuki pulling and kicking out of the building, yelling about leaving her 'precious baby girl' behind. He did make sure to shout "Love you, honey!" before they whipped out of sight.

"Iruka-sensei, r-right?" Sakura asked, walking up to the kind looking chunin who was standing at the door. "Your name was on th-the roster."

Iruka smiled at her. "Name?" he asked.

"Haruno Sakura."

He scribbled down a name on the clipboard he was carrying. "Go ahead and find a seat, Sakura." Iruka said. "Anywhere is fine."

She stood there, her face pink.

"Is… something wrong?" Iruka asked, a mildly uncomfortable look on his face.

"Um… w-where's the bathroom?" Sakura asked, her voice hardly above a whisper.

Iruka chuckled. "Ah, _that's_ it." he said, a look of relief on his face. "Down the hall. Take a left… it's the second hall on your right, the bathrooms should be there."

"T-thank you, Iruka-sensei." Sakura stammered, before darting off down the hall as fast as her little legs could carry her. She followed his directions to the letter, and it indeed lead her to the bathroom. After she was finished with her business, she stepped out a few moments later, a satisfied smile on her face.

She blinked.

There was a boy standing there. Glancing about, a scowl on his face. He seemed very… dark. His hair, his eyes, his clothing… yet his features were _beautiful_. She couldn't help but stare for a moment, before shaking her head, her ears as pink as her hair.

"U-um… a-are you lost?" Sakura asked, stepping up to the boy.

If anything, the boy's scowl intensified. He glared at her for a moment, before grumbling, "... yeah." under his breath. "Do you know where room one-oh-one is?" he asked.

Sakura beamed. "I'm in the same room!" she said. "Just follow me."

The boy looked as if he wanted to do anything else besides that, but it was clear he didn't have much of a choice. As Sakura half-walked half-skipped, the boy trailed behind her, hands stuffed into his pockets and a surly look on his face.

They didn't speak once they were inside of the class. But, she turned and looked at him expectantly, students shuffling around them as they walked to their class. The boy gave her a soft nod of thanks, and a satisfied Sakura darted into an empty seat at the front of the class, a smile on her face.

It was loud, many of the kids talking adamantly to their friends. Sakura twiddled her thumbs for a while yet, biting her lip, feeling just a tad lonely with nobody to talk to. An indigo haired girl with white eyes was one of the last to shuffle into the classroom, and she slid into the empty seat beside Sakura - hanging her head as if she were particularly ashamed about something, her frail body swathed in a lavender coat that seemed several times too big for her.

The two didn't talk to each other. But Sakura felt the slightest bit better about the fact that she had somebody to _sit_ next to at the very least.

At long last, Iruka stepped up to the front of the room, clearing his throat loud enough to silence the entire room at once. Mostly everyone sat up, rapt with attention, eyes focused on the chunin teacher.

He smiled brightly. "It's a great pleasure to meet you all," Iruka began, his eyes carefully surveying the class. "My name is Umino Iruka, and I will be your teacher throughout your years at the academy."

"Now, make no mistake, this will be easy for some and difficult for others. I do not expect everyone to manage to pass the final exam - but I hope to get as many of you through it as humanly possible.

"I will now hand all of you a questionnaire. This isn't a grade, I just want an idea of what your likes and dislikes are, and so I can know a little more about you all."

He strode around the classroom, passing out a sheet. Sakura was one of the first to get hers - and with a pencil already in hand, she set out to work.

 _1\. What is your name?_

She quickly scribbled 'Haruno Sakura' down in neat, curved and loopy handwriting.

 _2\. How old are you?_

She wrote down seven.

 _3\. When is your birthday?_

Sakura wrote March the twenty-eighth.

Needless to say, the test, or questionnaire, whatever, was a breeze. None of the problems were even challenging, just simple stuff. If she had missed any of them, it had been question 11 - 'Have you received any shinobi training beforehand? - where she'd had to halfheartedly scribble down a no.

Actually, she was the first to finish. Not knowing whether to get up and hand it to Iruka, or simply place it face down on the desk, she waited in her chair, her hands folded in her lap. Sakura even picked up her paper and gave the answers another once over, but that only killed about five minutes in the twenty minute wait that she was forced to endure after finishing.

Finally, Iruka stood up. "Pass the questionnaires up to the front, please." he said. The class did so, and soon, all of the forms were sitting in a several centimeter thick pile on his desk. "Now, before we get to doing anything else, I want to tell you all something _very_ important."

"For many of you, this is your first time _ever_ doing any actual shinobi training. Some of you, however, have been training since birth. This will provide some an unfair advantage…" Iruka said. "... but, do not be disheartened. So long as you work, and study hard, everyone can be at the top of the class. Before we continue, any questions?"

Sakura bit her lip. And then, she raised her hand.

"Yes?" Iruka asked.

Sakura felt a flush creep up her neck, as suddenly all eyes in the classroom were on her. Feeling exposed, she tried to ignore the pounding of her heart, and instead ask the question. "U-um," Sakura began. "Iruka-sensei, are we going to be doing anything physical today?" she asked. "I-I didn't bring any shuriken or…" She drifted off, feeling distinctly embarrassed.

Iruka gave her an exceeding kind smile, that served to calm her down minutely.. "I'm glad you said that… Sakura, right?" Feeling slightly nervous, Sakura nodded.. "A very fitting name." Iruka said. "But, to answer your question, in just a few moments I'll be taking you all outside. We won't be sparring or anything, but I want an idea of what you all know already. It's the same kind of concept as that questionnaire I gave you all."

' _I hope I'm not the worst in the class,'_ she thought. Sakura was sure that a lot of these kids came from shinobi families - and _everyone_ knew that they received a ton of training before coming to the academy, not to mention while they were in the academy as well. It was unfair… but it was just the way things were.

"No more questions, then?" Iruka said. "Good. Form a line, and once everyone is quiet and orderly we can go."

It took several minutes for the class to erect a line, with lots of pushing and shoving used. Sakura quietly found a place around the center of the line. It loud for a while, but Sakura was the opposite - staring at her feet, one hand gripping her arm tightly. Kaa-chan and Tou-chan hadn't told her just how _bad_ the nerves could be. It was one thing to have fun with the other kids in the playground… but to be surrounded by so many of her peers, in such a competitive environment… the anxiety was positively _killing_ her.

Once they were outside, Iruka gave them the usual spill. About how 'dangerous' the equipment they would be practicing was, about how serious it would be if they were to hurt someone. _'A metal shuriken? Dangerous? Who would have thought!'_ Inner Sakura thought, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

It appeared that they were going to practice throwing first. After Iruka was done with his whole speech about safety and such… "How about you, Sasuke?" Iruka said, pointing to a boy who was just a few spaces down from Sakura, a very familiar boy… "The older teachers raved on and on about your brother… how about you show us what _you_ can do?"

"Fine," Sasuke said, his voice gruff but still tinted with that high pitch that came from childhood. Sasuke stepped forward, a scowl on his face. Something clicked in Sakura's mind. The boy who was lost earlier! He certainly looked more confident now, Sakura thought, a far cry from when he had been aimlessly wandering the halls.

He _was_ really cute though… she could just pinch his cheeks and squeal. She was sure that if her mother saw him, Mebuki would sling him over her shoulder and never let go.

Sasuke strode forward, swiping six shuriken from the box on the table. The metal projectiles glistening in his bony fingers, he took his position on the line that marked where one would throw from, just in front of the middle target board.

He was silent, spreading his legs apart, clutching the shuriken tightly enough that his hands shook.

And then, with a _wisp_ , he let them fly. The shuriken flew through the air. Three of them clattered off the sides, while the other three hit the board with a thunk, forming a triangle shape around the center.

Iruka beamed. "Excellent work!" he said. "I can't recall anyone else hitting that many on the first try."

Sakura heard a kid near the front of the line say - "I heard his brother's first try was _perfect_ …" It was clear that Sasuke had heard him, by the way his scowl intensified.

Iruka turned back to the class, Sasuke returning to the line, looking sullen as ever, his round, childish face looking far too sad for a boy his age to be. Sakura stared at him for a few moments, a sad frown curling her lips.

Soon, Iruka told them to divide up into pairs. Sakura, not wanting to be the odd one out, latched onto the first person she saw. That blue haired girl who had sat next to her earlier - who stood practically invisible in the center of the class, looking almost like a turtle with the way her hoodie dwarfed her frame.

Sakura walked up to her. "Want to be my partner?" she asked. The girl stared at Sakura, wide eyed for a moment, before nodding almost solemnly. "Great!" Sakura said, beaming. "Let's go find an empty board then." Sakura walked off, the girl trailing behind her. Sakura scooped up a heaping handful of shuriken, and the indigo haired girl followed suit. Together, they walked to an empty lane towards the beginning of the row. "What's your name?" Sakura asked the girl.

"Hi-hi-hi-n-n-" The girl looked almost petrified to be _talking_ to someone, her stutter so horrible that she sounded like someone trying to grasp their language for the first time.

Sakura frowned. "My name's Sakura." she said. "Hi… Hikari?" The girl shook her head. "Hi… Himawari?" The girl once again shook her head. Sakura pursed her lips together. "What could it be?"

"Hi-na-na-na-ta…." the girl stammered out.

"Hinata?" Sakura said.

Hinata nodded.

"NIce to meet you!" Sakura said, smiling brightly at her. Hinata seemed to cower, as if the sight of a tiny, frail pink haired girl smiling was the equivalent of an executioner approaching the chopping block.

Sakura seemed not to mind. The girl was obviously deathly shy - but, managing to get a name out of her was an _excellent_ start, she thought. It was clear that Hinata wasn't going to go first, so Sakura decided to take the lead.

To be honest, when she had seen Sasuke, or whatever his name was, only manage to hit the board with half of his shuriken, she hadn't been anywhere near as impressed as Iruka had been. Only _half_? That wasn't that good!

Or so she thought. She grew a new appreciation for Sasuke, however, when she threw her first volley of shuriken, and only managed to land a single one that was only an inch away from missing. Sakura blinked. She glanced around, noticing that most if not all of the kids had achieved the same poor results - except, of course, for Sasuke, who had managed to land three shurikens out of six once again.

Sakura glanced at Hinata, who seemed to be content with not going at all. _'Just one more try,'_ Sakura thought, racing forward and scooping up the shuriken that had missed, plucking the one that had hit from the board. She ran back to the line, and threw a second volley. It was… better, this time around. She'd only managed to land one shuriken again, but a second had ricocheted off the edge of the board. That was good… right?

Feeling slightly bad about the fact that she was kind of hogging the shuriken, once Sakura scooped up the second volley of shuriken, she strode up to Hinata. "Here," Sakura said, pressing the shuriken into the pale eyed girl's hands.

"W-w-what?" Hinata stammered, her cheeks seemingly a constant twenty-four seven shade of pink that matched Sakura's hair near exactly.

Sakura frowned. "Don't be scared!" she said, wagging her finger. "Just step up, and do it. Nobody is going to laugh at you if you do bad."

Hinata seemed unconvinced, but after a moment, she stepped forward. Sakura beamed at her. Hinata drew the shuriken back, clutching them tightly in her hands, and then, she let them fly.

 _Thunk. Thunk._

She'd hit two on her first try, Sakura thought, trying hard, _really_ hard not to frown. Hinata turned to her, the shy girl actually _smiling_ slightly. Sakura offered her a smile back, although it seemed more grotesque, something the indigo haired girl obvious picked up on, for her smile turned to a frown.

Hinata poked her fingers together, in an obvious nervous tic. "S-s-sorry…" she whispered.

Sakura shook her head. "It's fine," she said. "Jealousy is a… natural thing, I guess."

Hinata flushed. "I-I-I g-got…" Her voice drifted off. "I-I'm o-one of the kids w-w-who got t-training b-before t-the a-academy."

It was silent for a minute.

Sakura didn't say anything in response… although, she felt slightly mollified. "Here," Sakura said, stepping past her. "Let me go get those shuriken for you, Hinata."

That tiny little smile reappeared on Hinata's face. "T-t-thank you, S-Sakura-san…" she said.

Sakura smiled. "It's no problem." she said, honestly.

The rest of the day was… nice.

She and Hinata weren't friends. Not by a long shot. But, it was nice having an acquaintance of sorts, someone who was just as nervous about the academy as she was, and someone who she could sit next to without having to worry about embarrassing herself in front of them.

When the bell finally rang at the end of the day, Sakura strolled out of the academy with a smile on her face.

"How was your first day, honey?" Mebuki asked, her and Kizashi having been standing outside of the academy, waiting for her.

Sakura grinned. "I think I'm really going to like the academy, kaa-chan." she said.

* * *

He was nervous.

No… no, no he wasn't nervous.

Yes he was!

No he wasn't!

' _Argh!'_ Sasuke thought, frowning. It felt as if his internal instincts were _screaming_ at him to deny the undeniable, which was this - that he, Uchiha Sasuke, was really, _really_ nervous about his first day in the academy.

And really, his mother wasn't making it any better.

Sasuke visibly cringed as Uchiha Mikoto dipped her head down, pressing a big kiss to his forehead.

"Kaa-san!" Sasuke whined, his big chubby cheeks flushing a light shade of pink.

Mikoto giggled. "Sorry, Sasuke." she said, brushing a speck of dirt off of his shirt. "But you just look so cute!"

"I'm going to be a shinobi, kaa-san… I don't want to be cute!" Sasuke said. He pressed his lips together in what was undeniably a pout, although he would never admit to it.

She shook her head slowly, fixing his collar, smoothing back his hair (which immediately sprang back into its typically spiky demeanor, to her irritation). "Itachi! Fugaku! You two had better be ready!" Mikoto called.

There was a light sigh. Two pairs of footsteps approached, and Sasuke saw out of the corner of his eye as nii-san and Fugaku stepped into the room. Both of them wore suitably blank expressions on their face, dressed in their Sunday best without even a single crinkle or untucked corner on their shirts. When nii-san saw him, he offered Sasuke a small smile - but within a millisecond, his face was stoic once again.

Sasuke smiled as well, although it didn't quite match his eyes. He knew that the only reason his father was coming to the academy with him on his first day was because Itachi had practically blackmailed him into doing so. He was happy that his entire family was going to be there… but he really would have liked for them _all_ to be perfectly willing.

"Alright." Mikoto said, surveying the three of them with a keen eye, as if searching for any imperfections. Apparently finding none, she drew herself to full height, smoothing out the front of her dress. "Let's go."

Silent as a family of ghosts, the four of them made their way out of the house, and into the Uchiha compound proper. Mikoto had a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, steering him carefully in front of her, as his nii-san and Fugaku flanked them.

"Is it Sasuke's first day at the academy already?" one of his great aunts called.

"It is." Mikoto said, smiling happily.

"Good luck!" the woman said, waving a wrinkled hand at Sasuke. He offered her a shy smile in return, as they walked past her. The guards that stood at the gate of the compound gave them a nod, murmuring "Fugaku-sama," under their breaths, long and dangerous looking katanas gleaming on their backs.

"Yoroi is sick today, Rashida." Fugaku said, to one of the guards. "You'll need to fill in for his shift and the station later. You'll be paid overtime, of course."

"Yes, Fugaku-sama." the man named Rashida said.

Fugaku nodded approvingly. "Done?" Mikoto said, her eyes glinting in a way that would have sent Sasuke and Itachi running had it been directed at them. "We only have thirty minutes before Sandaime-sama gives his speech, and we don't want Sasuke to be late, do we?"

"Of course not." Fugaku said. His face appeared calm, but when Mikoto turned her gaze from him, he let out a soundless breath of relief.

The rest of the walk there was quiet. Sasuke kept his face purposefully smooth, although inside, he was teeming with two emotions - excitement, and anxiety. _'I hope I do well,'_ he thought, remembering the stories that Shisui told him about, where nii-san had come close to breaking the records set decades ago by the legendary Yondaime, a feat that no one aside from someone they called the 'Copy Ninja' had even come close to achieving.

He hoped beyond hope that he wouldn't be last, at the very least. But - he shouldn't be, right? He was an Uchiha, not to mention the fact that he'd been given training in the basics of being a shinobi, by his nii-san and mother at different intervals.

There was a large crowd in front of the academy. Which was to be expected, Sasuke thought, considering they were a scant few minutes from being late, and there were probably a _lot_ of kids who were going to enter the academy with him.

A large outbreak of cheering broke out. Sasuke wasn't sure why at first, but when chants of 'Sandaime-sama!' began to reverberate through the air, he could hazard a guess. He couldn't see the Hokage though. He was far too short, and so, he clung to Mikoto's arm as the Sandaime droned on and on, about one thing or another.

"We can't come in with you, sweetie." Mikoto said, startling Sasuke. Was the Sandaime finally done? Thank kami.

"Why not?" Sasuke asked.

Mikoto smiled. "You're not a little kid anymore, Sasuke, even if you _are_ still my little baby." She grinned now, pinching his cheek and causing him to whine. "Besides, it's a bit of a tradition, to go into the academy by yourself. You'll be fine, trust me." She patted his shoulder reassuringly. "We won't be able to pick you up afterwards, though. Do you know your way home?"

"Yes," Sasuke said, glumly.

"Are you sure?"

" _Yes_." Sasuke repeated.

"Okay." Mikoto said, nodding. "If you get lost on the way home, just ask somebody and they'll point you in the right direction." She leaned down, kissing him on the cheek once more. "Say goodbye to your brother…" Mikoto said to Itachi. "And son!"

"Have a good day." Fugaku said gruffly.

"Good luck." Itachi said.

And they walked off, Mikoto making sure to turn back and wave at him before they were out of the view.

Sasuke frowned, pulling at the collar of his shirt with obvious anxiety in his face. He took a few breaths, calming himself, running his hand through his hair and steeling himself. And then, he walked forward, joining the throng of kids pushing into the building.

He found his name on a roster. _'Room one-oh-one.'_ Sasuke thought. He took a step down a random hall, frowning as he glanced at the number plaques on the doors. _'One thirteen, one fourteen, one fifteen… is it back this way?'_ He walked back towards the entrance, and chose another hallway. There weren't any doors for the first third or so - only ones leading to bathrooms and the courtyard. Then, a few classroom doors. _'One twenty, one twenty one… wrong way!'_

Sasuke paused for a moment, scratching his head. Where could his room be? It had to be around here somewhere, and yet, there seemed to be an endless number of hallways that could lead to it. If only there was a map or something of that sort…

He caught a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye. Sasuke turned. "U-um… a-are you lost?" a girl with… _pink_ hair asked, her emerald eyes shimmering.

Sasuke scowled. He glared at her for a moment, as if asking why she _dared_ to ask him something like that - before relenting. She was only trying to help after all. "... yeah." Sasuke grumbled. "Do you know where room one-oh-one is?" he asked, after a moment's pause.

The girl beamed at him, her smile reminiscent of the one his mother would give him. He was taken aback for a moment. "I'm in the same room!" the girl said, her voice… stronger now, more vibrant. "Just follow me."

And then, she skipped off. Sasuke hesitated for a moment, before following after her, stuffing his hands into his pockets and trying (and failing) to stop himself from scowling. The both of them were quiet. She walked straight into the class - but Sasuke paused long enough to give the chunin standing at the door his name before trailing in after her.

She turned, and looked at him, her emerald eyes expectant. He repressed a sigh, before giving her a soft nod of thanks. She seemed to understand his meaning, and with a smile, she darted off to her seat.

Sasuke found an empty seat near the windows that lined a wall of the classroom. Already bored out of his mind, he was content with staring out at the trees, watching as a bird made a nest in the upper branches of a willow while the rest of the class talked adamantly.

He listened to the teacher - who was apparently Iruka - as he gave a drab speech about how he hoped to get everyone through the final exam. He explained that he was going to give them a questionnaire, and followed, predictably, by giving them a questionnaire.

Sasuke frowned at the paper in front of him. Some of the stuff made sense, like needing to know their names and birthdates… by why in the world would Iruka need to know what his favorite color was? How many brothers he had? Why would a chunin need to know what his favorite _food_ was?

He pursed his lips together. He really hadn't been paying attention… was this a grade? Sasuke could imagine it now, getting second or third in the class and having to see his father's disappointed face, all because he refused to put down his favorite color.

Sasuke groaned. Then, with reluctance, he scribbled it down. _Blue._

Once Iruka called for them to hand the questionnaires in, Sasuke did so. More boring speeches. That pink haired girl, her face as flushed as her hair, asked a question. Iruka gave an answer. Kami! Were all days going to be this boring? He was seriously considering the prospect of pulling open a window and hopping out when the class began to stand up and shuffle into a line.

Not one to be taken by surprise, Sasuke stood up as well, and managed to secure a place near the center of the line. Iruka lead them out, through the halls, and into a courtyard. Cue _another_ speech ( _'Iruka-sensei must love those,'_ Sasuke thought bitterly.) about dangers and safety and could we just get onto it, _please_?

"How about you, Sasuke?" Iruka said, pointing at him. Sasuke was caught momentarily off guard, although it didn't show. "The older teachers raved on and on about your brother… how about you show us what _you_ can do?"

"Fine," Sasuke said. He scowled, knowing that everyone's eyes were on him and not caring in the slightest. Iruka indicated a basket sitting on a table, and he scooped six shuriken from inside of it, the metal clinking together. Clutching them tightly in his fingers, he strode up to the line, took aim, and _flung_ them at the board.

 _Thunk. Thunk. Thunk._

' _I can do better.'_ Sasuke thought, his fingers twitching as he looked at the three shuriken embedded in the target board.

Iruka, it seemed, thought otherwise. "Excellent work!" he said. "I can't recall anyone else hitting that many on the first try." Sasuke almost let a smile cross his face. And then-

A kid in the crowd murmured something under his breath. "I heard his brother's first try was _perfect_ …" In the silence, it was plainly audible to nearly everyone in the class.

A surge of anger tore through Sasuke, and he scowled. _'Of course.'_ Sasuke thought, knowing that it wasn't fair to blame nii-san for this, and yet not caring at the same time. _'Perfect Itachi.'_

Iruka turned back to the class. Sensing that his role in the demonstration was over, Sasuke stalked back into the line, his scowl growing with every passing moment. He folded his arms over his chest, his eyes bitter. He half listened as Iruka explained that the class would be divided into pairs. Really, he was going to wait until everyone else was partnered up so he could be the odd one out - but a boy with red markings on his cheek walked up to him.

"We're partners." the boy said, clearly not giving Sasuke any room to argue.

"Okay." Sasuke said. If the boy wanted to partner with him, he wasn't going to say no. He didn't care enough to, and besides, his kaa-san had warned him to try and not make any enemies on the first day.

They scooped up the shuriken from a basket, and found an empty lane.

"Do… do you want to go first?" Sasuke asked.

Kiba shrugged. "Sure," he said. He made to move forward - but paused for a second. He then turned around. "Iruka-sensei said your name was… uh… Sasuke, right?" Kiba asked. Sasuke nodded. "Nice to meet ya, then." he said. "My name's Kiba." He extended his hand.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment, before shaking it. He leaned forward, and got a good sniff of Kiba - causing his face to scrunch up. "You smell like…" he drifted off.

"Wet dog?" Kiba completed, chuckling. "Sorry about that, but kaa-chan had me wash Kuromaru before I got here." he said. "Not somethin' I can control, though…"

"It's not that much of a problem." Sasuke said quickly.. A brief pause. "Well… you're going first, so go ahead, I guess. I'm not stopping you."

"That's alright with me." Kiba said. He dropped most of the shuriken he was holding onto the ground at his feet, carefully picking up six - the same number as Sasuke. He reared them back, and then let them fly. _Thunk_. _Thunk_. Two hit, but the others flew several feet short or off their target. "Jeez. I can never get that third one." Kiba half whined. He went to collect the shuriken, and then stood behind Sasuke as the Uchiha went up for his attempt.

Sasuke managed to score another three out of six. Kiba clicked his teeth.

"How did you get so good at this?" Kiba asked, frowning slightly.

Sasuke allowed himself a smile. "Uchihas have always been good at shurikenjutsu," Sasuke explained. "My tou-san always said that It comes as natural to us as… well, awakening the sharingan and using _Katon_ techniques."

Kiba blinked. "Shar-in-gan…?" he muttered, scratching his cheek. "What's that?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It's not important." he said quickly. Sasuke hurried to grab the shuriken from the board and surrounding area, before stepping back behind Kiba. "Your turn." he said.

"Alright." Kiba said. "Here goes!" He reared his hands back, and then let the shuriken fly. _Thunk_. "What?" Kiba protested. "How did that not…!" One of the shuriken had _hit_ the board… but it had ricocheted off, instead of sticking into the wood.

Sasuke chuckled. "Better luck next time," he said, stepping forward.

Overall… the rest of the day was about as boring as the first part had been. More speeches. Actual work - Iruka introducing the co-teacher, a man named Mizuki, who would be teaching them mathematics, history, and things of that nature while Iruka would teach them shinobi skills, theory, and conduct practical training.

Had he made a friend? No, not really. Kiba was tolerable, Sasuke supposed. A little boastful, too arrogant for his own good, but he could be amusing, and he was certainly good for conversation. Sasuke doubted that they would ever be 'buddies' or something like that… but, at least he'd managed to follow his mother's advice and not make any enemies on the first day.

The bell rung. Sasuke followed the rest of the students out of the academy, his face stoic and yet a warm feeling settling in his stomach.

Of course, he had to walk home. About half an hour later, Sasuke strolled into the house, kicked off his sandals, shrugged off his rucksack, and padded into the kitchen. He didn't know where his father or nii-san was - but Mikoto was sitting on the couch, engrossed in a book.

She looked up as he walked into the living room. "How was it?" Mikoto asked, slipping a bookmark in between the pages and closing the novel with a slap. She leaned forward, a small smile on her face.

"It wasn't bad." Sasuke said, flopping down on the couch beside her. "It was… alright, I guess." he said, honestly.

"Aww…" Mikoto leaned to the side, grabbing his shoulder and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Hopefully tomorrow will be better, sweetie."

Sasuke flushed slightly, but he couldn't help but smile. "I hope so, too, kaa-san." he said honestly.

* * *

 **A few things to think about.**

 **\- Notice that Sasuke and Sakura _never_ noticed Naruto during the day.**

 **\- Naruto isn't outright hated - more so ignored.**

 **\- Sakura clearly isn't a fan of being upstaged by someone of equal status.**

 **\- And Sasuke is quite the momma's boy.**

 **I thought this chapter came out rather well... what do you think? Be sure to tell me in the reviews, and I'll try and reply to any interesting ones in the next chapter. Again, don't forget to favorite and follow the story. Thanks for reading, and as always, have an _awesome_ day.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**FoxOnPie - It's a natural habit for me to include fair bits of Japanese in my writing. Most of the stuff is pretty typically, and all it takes is a quick google search if you get _really_ confused. It's not really the kind of thing I can change on the fly without really inconveniencing myself, so sorry, :(.**

 **Naru285 - Glad you liked it!**

 **hbkisback14 - Thank you for pointing that out.**

 **The King in White - It's not something I'm going to deliberately mark when it happens, but hopefully it'll be noticeable enough to be... well, noticed.**

 **Review replies over, yay!**

 **A big thing I want to say. The first few chapters _are_ going to be pure exposition, setting up future relationships, backgrounds, and a little bit of Team 7 bonding as well, :). Hopefully, I can keep them interesting and engaging enough until the real plot gets moving. Until then, enjoy!**

* * *

Sakura frowned. It looked absurdly cute for a seven year old little girl with pink hair to make such a negative expression - but, despite that, she really wasn't very happy.

Her mother went on and on about how 'adorable' she was, and her father was always quick to agree. Her aunts, her uncles, her grandparents, they all loved her, pinching her cheeks and hugging her fiercely at family gatherings. She _was_ one of a kind, after all. Pink hair wasn't uncommon in the Haruno family, but to have a shade so bright, so cute, so strikingly similar to her namesake was… a rarity, at best. Her father's hair was pink, but it was faded, more akin to a dye job gone wrong than the pastile locks that made his daughter so unique.

But… that wasn't the only 'unique' thing about her.

The first two weeks at the academy had been easy, to say the least. They hadn't done all that much - mostly, they'd simply had to memorize the names of the Hokage, learn the different types of ninja tools (wire, kunai, senbon, and shuriken, things like that), not to mention the five basic elements.

What they hadn't expected, however, was a surprise test to be handed out at the end of those two weeks. Within five minutes of walking in on that Friday morning, all of the first year academy students were stooped over their papers, trying to remember things like which element the Nidaime Hokage used so proficiently.

That was just the first half of the day. Afterwards, they were carted off to lunch, and then, an hour or so of simple busy work as Iruka calmly graded papers at his desk. By the end of the day, he'd passed all of the tests back to them - and Sakura's had a big fat _one hundred_ at the top, stamped with a 'Great job!' next to it and a small word of encouragement from Iruka himself.

She'd barely managed to comprehend the fact that she'd gotten a perfect score on her first test, before someone had to go and ruin it. There was a purple haired girl who sat in the stool just beside where Sakura and Hinata sat. A small seventy five had been scribbled at the top of that particular girl's paper. Disgruntled, she'd readily checked her neighbors - possibly to see if anyone else had done better or worse than she had - and within seconds, she'd seen the score on Sakura's paper.

The girl hadn't said anything to Sakura herself. However, she had leaned back - and whisper, to the girls right behind Sakura and Hinata's stool: "Ha! I was wondering why her forehead was so big… it was probably to cover up that nerdy brain of hers!"

Sakura flushed an ugly red. The girls that sat behind her snickered, having seen Sakura's score as well (although Sakura could see that they had both scored a seventy and an eighty respectively). Hinata merely shrunk in on herself, looking so small and fragile and _relieved_ that she wasn't the target of their teasing. Sakura couldn't blame her.

Honestly, it stuck with her. Because to a girl like Sakura - who had lived a fairly sheltered and happy life up until that point - to be made fun of by some girls because she was _smart_ was… an awful feeling. It wasn't her fault that _they_ had been talking amongst themselves while Sakura had been soaking in the lessons that Iruka taught them, it wasn't her fault that _they_ had been more focused on their hair that morning then trying to learn the shinobi arts.

She had bitten her lip then. She wouldn't cry - she _refused_ to cry, not in front of them. After the bell had rung not five minutes later, she had torn out of the room, hardly taking the time to scoop up her papers and books before she was gone. Her parents weren't outside quite yet - and so, she waited for them, textbooks clutched to her chest, Sakura hiding her face behind them so that the girls couldn't see her watery eyes.

And yet… the same purple girl saw her regardless, the pink hair her mother so adored sticking out like a sore thumb against the cool brick color of the wall. "Look at her!" she said, pointing at Sakura, who shrunk as if the girl's finger was a kunai. "A little teasing and she starts crying over _nothing_? What a wimp!"

Her little entourage of girls laughed merrily, and together, they strolled off - headed to the playground to kill time.

' _I didn't do anything to you!'_ Sakura wanted to say. But what was the point? She felt almost like Hinata now, too petrified to say anything for fear of embarrassing herself even further.

So lost in her thoughts Sakura was, that she didn't even notice the small boy that walked up to her until he was right in front of her.

"... hi…"

His voice was quiet. Sakura lowered the books, shimmery emerald eyes staring at him almost worriedly. He was short, even shorter than Sakura - who was no giraffe herself. His blonde hair was messy, clumps of dirt in it, looking slightly greasy as if it hadn't been washed in a day or so. The most peculiar thing about him, Sakura thought, was the three slash marks that ran across his cheeks - almost like whiskers, really.

"H-Hi." Sakura stammered.

"Are you alright?" the boy asked.

"I'm fine." Sakura murmured, her voice sounding… unconvincing. She swallowed, blinking several times. "Re-really, I'm fine."

The boy frowned at her, his big, blue eyes staring at her curiously, as if she were an animal in a zoo, a particular species he had never seen before. "Okay." he said, after a moment, when Sakura spoke no further. He turned, and walked away, only casting a single glance back at her before he disappeared around the corner. The one thing Sakura noticed about him when he was walking away was the bright _orange_ of his backpack.

She rubbed her eyes, her vision feeling rather bleary. It wasn't until later that Sakura realized she hadn't even learned his name.

Her parents came and collected her. They ask her what is wrong - Mebuki's eyes full of warning, and the corners of Kizashi's lips tugging into a frown, so unlike his normally jovial self. She doesn't say anything. She merely walks in front of them, shielded by their shadows, her reddened eyes glistening in the dim light of the sun.

They arrive home. It's only when Sakura dumped her backpack onto the couch that she remembered what Iruka had given them earlier. As Mebuki sat in front of the stove and cooked dinner, and Kizashi fiddled with an old cuckoo clock that had broken, Sakura approached them, a small piece of paper clasped in her hands.

She swallowed. "Um… tou-san," Sakura began, and she startled Kizashi slightly - causing the screwdriver in his hand to nearly slip from his fingers.

"What is it, Sakura?" Kizashi asked, as he flashed her that familiar smile.

"Iruka-sensei asked me to give you this." she murmured, pressing the paper into his hand. "It's a sort of- um… field trip, I guess. We're going to be doing a practice, erm, 'war game', I guess…"

Kizashi read the paper silently. "Is it really safe to send _seven_ year olds into the forest to…" He glanced at the paper. "'Get their first taste of shinobi warfare'?"

Sakura shrugged. "It's an optional thing, tou-san." she said. "But Iruka-sensei said that there'll be prizes… and that you'll get extra credit just for participating."

Kizashi sighed, rubbing his nose. "Ask your mother," he said. "I'd be willing to wager that you would be perfectly safe - but you know how she is." Kizashi murmured. "Tell her that I'm alright with it."

"Okay." Sakura said, accepting the paper back from him. She trudged out of the living room and into the kitchen, where Mebuki sat - steaming pots full of churning water and liquids in front of her. She wore a flowery apron, her blonde hair tied up into a high ponytail. "Kaa-san?"

"Hmm?" Mebuki hummed, turning her head toward Sakura. "Did you need something, honey?"

"Here." Sakura said, handing the paper to Mebuki, who took it gracefully. Her eyes flitted across the sheet in record time, and within a minute, Mebuki had given the paper back.

"Is your father alright with this?" Mebuki asked. Sakura nodded. Mebuki correspondingly let out a sigh. "Well… I met your teacher, and he seems like a good sort. I doubt he'd send you all out there if it was _truly_ dangerous, so… okay. Get your father to sign it. And… just be safe, honey, alright?"

Sakura smiled. "Alright, kaa-san."

* * *

Predictably, Sasuke and Naruto's endeavors in getting their own papers signed went a little smoother than Sakura's did. Uchiha Fugaku didn't even look twice at the paper Sasuke had handed him before signing it. And the Sandaime wasn't going to say 'no' to Naruto, especially when the blonde employed his patented 'Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu'.

So, on Wednesday of that week, everyone in the academy found themselves standing in the middle of a forest. Iruka and Mizuki had spent the better part of an hour organizing them into a line, straightening them out, and then leading them on a trek through the village and out into the dense forests that filled the space between the village proper and the great walls that surrounded it.

Fate was a fickle thing. Really, _no one_ knew if it was luck, fate, or people who changed the future - but certainly, some higher powers must have conspired to create a situation like this.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto stood side by side, Naruto in the center and the other two flanking him. In front of them, Iruka explained to them the rules of the contest.

"There are nine teams of three, and one team of two." Iruka said. "This is the type of situation that comes up often when you take the Chunin exams, so this is good practice if the examiners decide to go down that route when you _do_ take your promotion exams." He smiled at them. "The idea is simple. Half of the teams have a red ball." He brandished it in front of them, squishy and rubber, the kind that you could bounce easily on pavement. "The other half have a ball exactly like this, except it's blue. The objective is to end the game with two balls, one blue, and one red, and _then_ make your way back here to Mizuki and I. Understand?"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei." the three chorused back at him.

"Excellent. You will be provided with rubber kunai and shuriken, which are the _only_ weapons that will be used during this exercise. Hand to hand combat, ninjutsu, genjutsu, or anything of that sort is forbidden. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei."

"Take the ball," Iruka said, pressing it into Sakura's hands. "And…" Iruka fished around in his pocket for a moment, before withdrawing a small storage scroll. A puff of smoke later, and a small bucket full of blue, rubbery toy kunai and shuriken appeared in his hand. "Take a few of these as well."

They did. Sasuke shoved a few kunai into his pockets. Naruto grabbed heaping handfuls of whatever he could get his hands on. And Sakura cautiously took a single kunai from the remnants left in the bucket. Once it was clear that they'd gotten their fill of the 'weapons', Iruka promptly de-summoned the bucket.

"The rules with these weapons are simple." Iruka said. "All you need to do is 'stab' someone with these kunai or shuriken, and they'll have to feign 'death' for about a minute. However, that goes for you as well - if someone throws a kunai at you and hits you in the leg, or comes up and 'stabs' you in the gut, you have to play dead.

"Once Mizuki and I have gone through the rest of the teams, a bell will sound." Iruka informed them. "You will then make your way into the trees. A line has been drawn around the perimeter of the playing grounds - and if you're caught outside, it's an instant disqualification. Five minutes after the first bell, a second one will be rung, and that marks the beginning of the game."

Iruka took a deep breath, his warm brown eyes regarding them fondly - although all three of them noticed that they cooled marginally when they rested on Naruto.

"Good luck." was all Iruka said, before striding off to brief the next team.

The three of them turned towards each other, shuffling until they formed something resembling a triangle. They were quite the mixed group: pink, blonde, and black hair standing out in the clearing, emerald, blue, and ebony eyes glancing at the other kids who would be their 'teammates' for the day.

Naruto was the first to speak up. "What's the plan?" he asked.

"You two are too slow." Sasuke said. "If we try to fight the other teams head on, we're going to get killed."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Sakura asked, grinding her teeth ever so slightly.

"Simple." Sasuke said. "We'll set up a… you know, the thing where you hide from other people and surprise them."

Surprisingly, Naruto was the one to know the word. "Ambush?" the blond said.

"That's it." Sasuke said, giving him an approving nod. "We can ambush the other teams, catch them by surprise, and get their ball before they even know what hit them." He paused, and right then and there, he could almost hear his brother's voice echoing in his head - ' _Shinobi almost always work in teams, otouto. Be sure to lean on your comrade's strength almost as much as you do on yours.'_ Sasuke sighed. "What do you two think?" he asked.

"Uh… sounds good, I guess." Naruto said, scratching his cheeks.

Sakura shrugged. "Why not?" she said.

"Alright then." Sasuke murmured. "When the bell rings, we'll take off - go a hundred or two hundred yards, then set up in a tree. Okay?"

"Okay." the other two said back at him.

Several minutes passed, as the two teachers went about the clearing, informing the rest of the team on how to handle to tasks, and handing them their ball and rubber ninja tools.

Sasuke spread his feet. Sakura's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Naruto scratched the back of his neck. Mizuki and Iruka were talking to each other, laughing about something - and then, they made the walk to the bell strung up to a tree. Many of the other groups werent paying attention, but Sasuke and Sakura were, and when a deafening _ring_ echoed throughout the clearing, the both of them sprinted immediately into the trees. Naruto was bewildered for a moment, but quickly caught on, and sped off after them.

"Hey, guys!" Naruto called. "Wait up!"

They slowed just a bit, so that Naruto could catch up to them - but after that, there was no breaks. They ran for four, five minutes, until Sasuke came skidding to a halt. Sakura and Naruto followed suit, following his gaze to a rather tall tree that was at least three meters higher and a meter thicker than the trees around it.

"That one looks good." he said. And without waiting for their input - apparently having forgotten his brother's words of wisdom - he went forward, and began to climb. Sakura and Naruto exchanged a glance, and a shrug. And then, they followed suit, the trio climbing and climbing until they were safely nestled in the green foliage. Sakura struggled the most with the climbing, but she managed - the lower, thinner branches able to hold her slim figure up. Naruto was a little bit tired when he got to where Sasuke was, and speaking of Sasuke… well, he did it flawlessly… as usual, Naruto thought rather bitterly.

Once all of three of them were safely concealed, they… well, they waited. There wasn't much else they could do. Clutching against the thicker upper branches of the tree, they peered down at the forest floor, their ears perked, the other's breathing sounding almost deafening in the silence that engulfed them. In the distance, they could hear excited scream, yells, and even the sound of harsh footsteps about fifty yards off in any direction.

That was, until…

 _Toot._

Naruto flushed.

Sasuke's face scrunched up. "Disgusting," he grumbled, shooting a mild glare in Naruto's direction - Sakura not so subtly scooting away from the blonde.

"I am _not_ disgusting!" Naruto retorted angrily. A second later, he almost looked horrified at the fact that he had actually _yelled_ at the 'prodigy' of their class, Sasuke, but whatever surprise was on his face was quickly wiped away by Sasuke's retort.

A second bell ringing tore through the trees, although it went unnoticed by the boys.

"At least _I_ don't fall asleep every day in class and end up getting woken up by a piece of chalk thrown at me!" Sasuke said, rather nastily, pinching a hand over his nose.

Naruto's face flushed even further. "Hmph!" he said, turning his head. "At least I'm not a big, fat _jerk_!" He spat the word out, as if being called a 'jerk' by a seven year old was the worst insult in the world. Considering they didn't know any words than was worse than 'jerk' and 'poopy face', it wasn't that far from the truth, at least for them.

Sasuke frowned. "I saw your score on the test," Sasuke said. "At least _I_ didn't get-

"Guys!" Sakura said, in a hasty whisper, silencing Sasuke mid-insult. "Listen!"

They quieted down. Sasuke's face was still scrunched up - _'That idiot's farts reek!'_ \- but, they were all serious faced otherwise, eyes narrowed. Footsteps. The crunching of leaves. The sound of voices, growing closer and closer.

Three kids stepped out into the clearing. The two boys were rather nondescript - brown hair, brown eyes, and plain clothes. The one girl, however, stood out if only because of her shockingly purple hair, that glistened in the sunlight that tore through the canopy.

Sakura tensed, though her teammates were left in the dark as to why.

"We don't know if they have the right ball." Sasuke hissed.

Sakura pressed a hand to her lips. The kids down in the clearing started talking… _loudly_.

"Why haven't we found anyone yet?" one of the boys whined. "There's not going to be any red balls left if we don't find another team soon!"

"Speaking of which…" the other boy said. "You still have it, right?"

"Yup!" the purple haired girl said, pulling it out of her pocket and showing it to her teammates - and the team perched above her - before putting it away once more.

"Well… that was convenient." Sasuke mumbled.

"Let's get them!" Naruto whispered - or at least, as much of a whisper as he could manage. They were still talking in the clearing below, however, so his poor attempt at a whisper went unnoticed.

"Sounds good to me." Sakura said, her hand tightening around her sole rubber kunai.

Sasuke pulled two 'kunai' from a pocket, clutching them tightly in his hands. He took aim, and then flung one of them at one of the boys down in the clearing.

It hit him in the back of the head, and bounced off. "Ow!" the boy said, rubbing the back of his head. He turned around, stooped low, picked up the kunai and blinked at it at a moment. "What… oh, right!" The boy fell onto his back, stuck his tongue out, and took up a very unconvincing pose of 'death'. "I'm dead!" he proclaimed.

"Where did that come from…?" the purple haired girl said.

Sasuke and Naruto were already halfway down the tree by the time they were spotted. Sakura was right behind them.

Naruto flung a heaping handful of rubber shuriken at the other, not 'dead' boy. Despite the blonde's notoriously poor accuracy, the sheer quantity ensured he would hit something - at least, he would have, if the boy hadn't scrambled out of the way, leaving a pile of bouncing rubber shurikens in his wake.

"Take this!" the girl shouted, tossing a kunai at Sakura. It fell about two yards short, bounced off a section of the tree, and nearly hit Naruto on accident - although the blonde narrowly managed to avoid it.

Sasuke and Naruto had already landed on the ground, and were already charging the two remaining enemies. However, Sakura still had a bit of a vantage point, and she used it properly - tossing it at the remaining boy. Luckily for her, the boy was still on the ground, having fallen over in his attempt to scurry out of the way of Naruto's shuriken. He groaned, glanced at the kunai on the floor next to him, and then keeled over.

The purple haired girl seemed rather… well, surprised. Like Sakura, she had only grabbed a single kunai from the basket - and unlike Sakura, she had missed with hers. And so, as Naruto advanced, she was defenseless.

Naruto poked her in the stomach with the kunai. The girl let out a whine, before carefully laying down on her stomach, mumbling something about grass stains.

"Has it been a minute yet?" one of the boys, the first one who had been taken down, groaned.

"Shut up." Sasuke said, kicking him in the side. "You're dead."

Naruto stooped low, pulling a squishy blue ball from the purple haired girl's pocket, who squirmed at his touch. "Got it!"

"Let's go then." Sasuke paused. "Erm… which way are we supposed to go?"

Sakura giggled. "You really aren't that good with directions, are you?"

Sasuke glared at her.

"That way." Sakura said happily, pointing into the trees. Without another word, the team that would one day be known as Team Seven sprung away from the clearing, leaving the defeated team behind.

Again, they ran for four or five minutes - until they were finally back in the big clearing where they had started. Mizuki and Iruka were standing beside a tree, idly chatting beside the bell that they had rung twice. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto sprinted up to them - huffing and puffing, although they were smiling (well, Sakura and Naruto were - the corners of Sasuke's mouth merely tilted upwards).

"The first team back!" Iruka said, happily taking the two balls - one from Sakura, and the other from Naruto. "Good work. You three can relax now."

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura glanced at each other. Naruto grinned at the two of them. Sakura smiled. And Sasuke gave them a soft nod.

And then, they went their separate ways, each of them finding a different tree to lean against and relax as the rest of the game was played out.

* * *

"Nii-san…!" he whined. "You promised!"

Itachi flashed him the ghost of a smile, before it was replaced by his customary stoicism. "I'll teach you shurikenjutsu some other time." he said simply, turning back around and slipping into his sandals. "There's a mission that needs to be completed, and unfortunately the ANBU doesn't take too kindly for their members to put it off in order to play with their little brothers."

Sasuke pouted. "Fine." he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. "Have fun on your mission, nii-san…"

Itachi let out something that sounded like a chuckle. He reached two fingers forward, and poked Sasuke into the head.

"Next time. I promise." Itachi said.

Sasuke rubbed a finger across his forehead, a frown creasing his lips. "I'm- I'm going to hold you to that, nii-san." Sasuke insisted.

"Of course. Tell kaa-san that there's no need to put out a place at the table for me." Itachi said. "Goodbye."

He walked out of the open door, and then, disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke was left staring at the place where he had vanished, long after the smoke had dissipated.

Sasuke exhaled.

With two long strides, he crossed the distance between him and the open door, and _slammed_ it closed hard enough that nearby items on top of shelves rattled.

' _Yeah,'_ Sasuke thought, his face dark. _'Next time.'_

* * *

Naruto looked at the paper in front of him, his features adopting a look that was reminiscent of constipation.

"Ugh!" he whined, throwing down his pencil. "Homework is dumb, Sandaime-jiichan!" Naruto rolled over onto his back, big blue eyes staring at the ceiling.

Not that the Sandaime was here right now. But he liked to pretend that he was talking to him sometimes. Naruto rubbed his nose, wishing that the names of Konoha's various clans would come as easily as the names of the Hokage did.

But they just wouldn't. He usually got lost somewhere after the Akimichi - and that was the _second_ on the list, after Aburame. Why did these even matter anyways? Who cared about history? He just wanted to get back to the cool stuff, like learning to throw shuriken.

Because, Naruto reasoned, even if he was the worst in both of them, that jerk Sasuke (who was usually called on to pass the tests out to everyone) wouldn't be able to see how bad he was with written stuff.

Despite the fact that they'd worked exceedingly well as a team in that little exercise - actually, Iruka said they'd done nearly as well as some 'sannin' guys had done - but Naruto could honestly say that if there was one person he disliked, it was Sasuke.

So arrogant. And… good looking. And _clean_. And always good, managing to best everyone in every little thing. The only times he wasn't top of the class was in written exams, and even then he was still in the top three.

Sasuke really hadn't done anything _to_ him, unless you counted the fart thing that had happened during the exercise (he just _had_ to try the spicy ramen Ichiraku had debuted on that particular day…), but other than that, it was mostly just the way he was, the things he did, how he was always better than him. That realization didn't make him dislike Sasuke any less, though. If anything, it only intensified it.

He could imagine it now. Sasuke, surrounded by his stupid, loving family. He probably had his stupid homework done already - maybe, he was having dinner with them, his mother setting the table, his father chuckling merrily in the corner and his brother making funny faces at him across the table…

Naruto rubbed his eyes. He flopped back onto his stomach, staring at the paper before him. He seized his pencil, went down towards the bottom of the page and scrawled the world 'Uchiha' down viciously enough that the point of his pencil went right through the paper. Naruto scowled. He wrote it down again, forcing his writing to be less… paper tearing this time.

He sighed. Naruto had _promised_ Sandaime-jiichan that he'd give it his best shot at doing all of his homework, every last bit of it, and yet, he just couldn't summon the energy to even begin on it. It was so tiring. So _boooring_.

This was one of those times where Naruto wished he'd sat somewhere else on his first day. Like next to that cute pink haired girl - she was _super_ smart, and Naruto bet she would let him copy off of her.

He groaned, burying his head into the sheets. It was too late now, and he doubted that she would let some boy she had as a teammate once copy all her work - it would be different if he'd been sitting next to her since the beginning, but now… ugh.

Naruto rolled of his bed, landing on the floor. He stumbled a bit, but recovered quickly, shaking his head and running a hand through his blonde hair absentmindedly. He crossed the room, pulled his backpack off of the floor and unzipped it. From within, he withdrew a multitude of those aqua blue rubber shuriken they'd been giving.

He _had_ managed to sneak a few out, and he was pretty sure that Iruka-sensei hadn't noticed. Naruto had taken them to one of the small training grounds that academy students were allowed to use, but they were kind of useless for any real training. They bounced everywhere, and were way off center compared to the shuriken they were given in class.

' _Sucks I can't get the cool ones 'till I'm ten.'_ he thought rather glumly. Once you had a few years of shinobi training under your belt, and were a bit older, the stores would let you buy the _real_ weapons from them. Sure, he was barred from visiting quite a few stores (for reasons he was unaware of), but Sandaime-jiichan had helped him find a number of stores that let him shop there, so long as he was in and out, or he wore a hood or a hat or something when he was in there.

"Iruka-sensei is going to be _so_ mad tomorrow…" Naruto mumbled to himself, grinning slightly Most kids would hate being singled out by their teacher - but he'd rather be yelled at, rather than coolly ignored or glossed over.

Naruto sighed, swiping the piece of hardly started on homework and stuffing it into his rucksack. Whatever. He'd take the bad grade, and just make up for it in practical training or something. Homework was dumb, anyways!

* * *

 **And that's a wrap.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review if you liked it. A favorite, and a follow is always welcome as well. Thanks for reading, and as always, have an _awesome_ day.**


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura could recognize a conundrum when it was hovering right before her very eyes. Even the air brushing against the cut on her hand caused it to sting painfully, and as she stumbled into the bathroom and opened the cabinet with her other hand, Sakura knew that she was going to have to come up with something to tell her parents aside from the truth.

She tried to be precise, as she wound the bandage around and around the cut. But her movements were shaky. Every time the cloth even rubbed up against the wound in her palm, she would shudder, and a bite of pain would go trickling down her spine.

This sucked.

It had only been a little over four months since she had entered the academy. And finally, _finally_ , Iruka-sensei had permitted her to take home a few shuriken - just so she could train a little in the public training grounds, hone her skills, spend a little of her free time actually doing something productive aside from spending hours hunched over a textbook, that or sleeping soundly in her bed, or helping her mother and father cook at the bakery.

Of course, her first impromptu 'training session' had ended with her sporting a rather nasty cut across her palm. It wasn't particularly long or deep, but it _hurt_ , and in her surprise she'd tripped and gotten dirt into it as well. She'd staggered home, clutching her arm as if it had been amputated, the filth in her wound causing it to sting in a way that brought tears to her eyes.

Her parents weren't home; Mebuki and Kizashi were both working at the bakery that they owned, putting in long hours bent over the oven that allowed them to live in such comfortable conditions. She didn't have a key to the house of her own yet. But, she did know where the spare key was, pulling it out of a crevasse in a false rock beside the front door with shaking hands, and twisting it into the lock.

And now, she found herself here. Shakily cleaning out the cut on her palm, rubbing disinfectant into it that smelled so strong that it made her nose crinkle and her eyes water, and then now, wrapping it carefully in clean, cotton bandages.

Training to be a kunoichi was tougher than she'd ever imagined it to be.

After they had finished with the basics - the five elements, simple theory, and history - the class had shifted to truly beginning their education in the shinobi arts. Iruka had worked them like dogs… push ups, sit ups, running laps around the academy building, shuriken and kunai practice that caused their previous attempts to pale in comparison. They'd even started teaching them some of the most basic techniques such as ones that would allow you to make a basic compass of sorts, or another that gave you the ability to draw thin blue lines of chakra on the ground or walls, so that you could mark out lines and such or leave short messages.

They hadn't graduated to anything _too_ serious though. Even basic techniques like the regular bunshin, or the substitution were far off for the majority of the class, saved for their final year in the academy after they'd mastered the basics and properly honed their bodies and chakra pools.

Sakura set the roll of bandages down on the counter, grimacing as she flexed her fingers. For such a small wound, it had bled surprisingly a lot, the cloth already dampening with sticky crimson liquid.

She swallowed. _'Let's hope next time doesn't go as poorly,'_ Sakura thought.

The next day, she went to the training grounds once again.

Her parents, predictably, had interrogated her about where the cut on her hand had come from. _'It was so they wouldn't worry,'_ she reasoned with herself, glancing at the fresh change of bandages around her palm. She had lied and told them that she had slipped and cut it on a rock. Sakura wasn't sure what her parents would say if they knew she had been training on her own, with _real_ shuriken, without an adult to watch over her… but honestly, she didn't want to find out either.

It probably wasn't the best of ideas to go back, and practice with the metal shuriken _again_. But she couldn't help it. After all, there was no pointing in shying away from them - she'd have to use them sooner or later, and so long as she was a tad more careful, it stood to reason that she would be fine. Maybe she would suffer another cut or two by the end of the day, but the experience earned would be invaluable in the long run.

The training grounds were surprisingly packed. Ranging from academy students just like her, to chunin who were too lazy to be bothered going to the more isolated training fields where jounins and chunins typically honed their skills. There were several vendors sitting around the edges, offering spare packs of shuriken and kunai to those who had forgotten them - though they steadfastly refused to sell them to anyone without a headband.

Sakura managed to find a relatively empty lane. Relatively, because there were two people there. One that was much shorter than the other, with distinctive, spiky black hair - and the other, with similarly colored hair that was tied into a ponytail that fell down his back.

She made a tiny little noise. An 'eep' of sorts. That _had_ to be Uchiha Itachi, the boundless prodigy, the boy who had graduated from the academy, setting test scores so high that they had only been beaten by the legendary Yondaime himself. Sakura had never seen him before, but she had heard of him. Famous enough that he was even featured in some of their more recent textbooks.

Uchiha Itachi heard her. And he turned, Sasuke at his side, not having noticed her yet and instead preoccupied with throwing a volley of shuriken at a training dummy that lay about ten yards in front of him. "Otouto." Itachi said. "That's the girl in your class, isn't she? I don't think I've heard of anyone else with pink hair like you described."

Sasuke turned around as well. "Yeah, it is." he said, giving her a stiff nod of acknowledgement - and not much else.

A thin smile curled Itachi's lips. "Are you looking for a place to train?" he said. "I'm sure Sasuke is _more_ than willing to accommodate his classmate."

Sakura swallowed. "Su- sure." she managed to get out. With stiff movements, she walked forward, until she was standing just beside Sasuke. It was silent for a moment. Just for a moment, though.

"What happened to your hand?" Sasuke asked, startling her. He reached forward, grasping her wrist and holding up her hand, his dark eyes staring at the cloth wound around her palm.

"I… I cut it." Sakura said, pulling her hand from his grip with another light 'eep'.

He frowned. "I figured that." Sasuke said. "I meant _how_ did you cut it?"

"I was… here training." Sakura said. "I grabbed the shuriken wrong and it just sort of… sliced across my hand."

"It just-" Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but…

"Don't press her too much, otouto." Itachi said, cutting Sasuke off. He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and Sakura was suddenly frightening aware of just how _tall_ he was in comparison to them. "Do you mind if I take a look at that cut?" he asked. "Just to make sure."

She nodded.

Itachi gently crouched down on one knee, cupping Sakura's wrist. Swift fingers unraveled the bandage that was wound around her palm, until the glistening, still red cut was visible. Itachi examined it, pursing his lips together, Sasuke at his side - staring at it with a mild amount of curiosity.

"Well cleaned." Itachi commented. "That looks like it's going to heal up in no time." Carefully, he wrapped the bandages back around. "Who did that? Your mother?"

"M-Me." Sakura said, rather shyly.

"A regular little Tsunade, aren't you?" Itachi said.

Sakura blinked. "Who…?" she asked.

"The sannin, Tsunade." Sasuke interjected. "The best medical ninja in the world." He rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest.

Itachi smiled, ruffling Sasuke's hair affectionately. "How about you two get to training, hmm?" he said.

"Yes, nii-san." Sasuke said. "Come on, Sakura." he said.

Her fingers felt rather shaky, but she managed to pull out the small pouch of metal shuriken that she had jammed into one of her pockets. Sasuke had one of his own, and together, the two of them stood in front of the training dummy.

Sasuke didn't do anything, and so Sakura assumed that he was waiting for _her_ to go first. She swallowed. Fumbling with the latch of the pouch, she took out a single shuriken, slipping it into her hands and-

"Wait." Sasuke said, and she stopped. "You're doing it wrong." he told her. Again, he was taking her hand without asking, though it was to carefully rearrange her fingers around the shuriken. "No wonder you cut yourself." he said with a snort, and she flushed in mild embarrassment.

"Th- thanks." Sakura managed to say, though she had another word on the tip of her tongue. _'Doing it wrong!'_ another voice seemed to huff inside of her. _'I'll show him!'_

Of course, when she threw the shuriken and managed to hit the target board dead center for the _first_ time ever in her relatively brief life, Sakura had to admit that Sasuke probably had a point - she _had_ been doing it wrong. That didn't give him an excuse to be so condescending about it, though! She was a civilian, and learning proper grips from textbooks and training manuals was a huge pain, totally harder than having a brother like _Uchiha Itachi_ to teach you!

But… he had gone out of his way to teach her the proper way…

"Thanks." she said once again, earnestly this time, a small smile curling her lips.

"Mmm hmm." Sasuke hummed, grasping three shuriken in one of his hands. He sent them flying - and they formed a near perfect triangle in the wood, surrounding the shuriken that Sakura had thrown. "It's all about confidence." Sasuke murmured. "You aren't going to hit anything if you don't _think_ that you can hit it."

Confidence.

' _Confidence.'_ Sakura thought, her brow knitted ever so slightly.

"Okay…" she murmured, withdrawing another shuriken. "Con-fid-ence." Sakura said, sounding it out, her lips wrapping around each syllable. "Alright…" She bent her legs slightly, drawing her hand back, blowing a lock of pink hair out of her eye. Her emerald eyes squinted.

' _I can do it! I can do it!'_ she chanted.

She let the shuriken fly, and once again, it hit the bullseye - so close to the shuriken that she had thrown before that they were nearly touching.

Sakura grinned.

"There we go." Itachi said, a small smile on his lips. Sakura and Sasuke turned towards him. "A few more months of practice, and you'll be able to hit those even while you're on the move." he said. "She's got a lot of potential, otouto." Itachi continued, flashing Sasuke a wink. "I'd watch out for her."

Sakura flushed, while Sasuke merely said- "Yeah, yeah, nii-san." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Regardless of her embarrassment… Sakura couldn't help the grin that curled her lips. She'd known that Sasuke wasn't as much of a jerk as the impression someone might get from first meeting him. But… from what had seen of his family so far - solely in the form of Itachi and the lunches Sasuke's mother made for him to take to the academy - they didn't seem all that bad.

Right?

* * *

Naruto smoothed himself out against the grass, a cheeky grin on his face.

It was a struggle for him to remain silent - bouncy and lively as he was - but Naruto managed, his blue eyes glinting mischievously. Despite the orange shirt he was wearing, and his shockingly blonde hair, he was concealed rather well in a bush - and through the thicket of green leaves and thin, brown branches, he could see quite clearly into the clearing in front of him.

The Sandaime stood there, clad in full battle gear, a joyous look on the aged man's wrinkled face.

They weren't fighting, oh heavens no, even in his sixties Hiruzen would be able to defeat Naruto with both of his hands tied behind his back - rather they were playing a game of good old fashioned hide and seek.

Hiruzen scanned the clearing with a keen eye, his distinctive sashes swishing behind him in the wind. For an hour, once a month, he allowed himself to spend time with the boy that he regarded almost like a grandson. Sometimes, they read - something, they made a trip to Ichiraku's… but this time in particular, Naruto had eagerly insisted that they play a few games.

It was a good stress reliever for Hiruzen. He had long since gotten used to the strict duties of being the Hokage, but still… a little time to unwind was always nice. And if there was one way to forget the constant problems that Konoha had to deal with - it was Uzumaki Naruto… whose vibrancy and genuine innocence could warm anyone's heart. Anyone who was willing to listen, at least.

Of course, Hiruzen knew exactly where Naruto was, from the instant he'd opened his eyes. The boy wasn't _visible_ , but his chakra signature, so energetic and bright, yet rippling with undertones of the Kyuubi's dark taint, was so potent that Hiruzen could likely sense it anywhere within a mile of him without even blinking. Add that to the fact that Hiruzen was _very_ familiar with it, and… well, the game of hide and seek had gotten rather one sided.

Still, he liked to let the boy have his fun. Hiruzen trekked across the clearing, intentionally searching a bush that was far off from Naruto's actual location - the aged man's lips twitching as Naruto's poorly concealed giggles reached his ears. "Naruto!" Hiruzen called, his voice teasing. "Where are you?"

Naruto had to stuff a fist in his mouth to hold in his laughter. _'Stupid old man!'_ he thought, grinning around said fist. _'There's no way he'll be able to find me!"_

He kept his blue eyes focused on Hiruzen, as the elderly Hokage went across the clearing again and again, checking through the pushes, looking up at the canopy of leaves as if expecting Naruto to be perched on a tree up there. His black armor gleamed in the sunlight, Hiruzen occasionally reaching up to scratch his beard.

Soon, however, Hiruzen wandered out of Naruto's line of sight, disappearing behind a tree. Bright blue eyes narrowed, but Naruto didn't dare move, not wanting to snap a twig or rustle the bush, which would most certainly give away his position to the man he so affectionately called 'Sandaime-jiichan'.

' _Where is he?'_ Naruto thought after a moment, panicking slightly as Hiruzen hadn't reappeared in a minute or so. He was about twenty seconds away from simply getting up to make sure everything was alright, before…

"Boo."

Naruto jumped about a meter in the air, scrambling out of the bushes and into the grass. "Sandaime-jiichan!" he whined, looking at the man - who had crept up behind him without Naruto noticing, and who was now chuckling merrily. "You didn't have to scare me like that!"

Hiruzen laughed. "I may be old, but you still have a _long_ way to go before you can hide from a Kage, Naruto." he said softly. He stretched his thin and bony arms, patting his shoulder guards with an affectionate look on his face. "It's about time we head back to the village."

"Alright!" Naruto said. Being the affection-hungry little squirt that he was, he pushed himself to his feet, darted to Hiruzen's side and seized his hand - glancing up at the Sandaime as if simply _daring_ him to pull his arm away. Naruto grinned. "Let's go, Sandaime-jiichan!" he chirped.

He smiled kindly. And with his distinctive twin sashes still swinging behind him, Hiruzen quietly lead Naruto out of the clearing. The walk wasn't all that long but it was peaceful, even Naruto quieting down for a little while so that the two could simply bask in the relaxing silence.

"Have things at the academy been alright, Naruto?" Hiruzen asked, breaking the silence which had consisted of only their soft footsteps and the distant sounds of nature for about five minutes.

Naruto pursed his lips together. "They've been… better." he said. "I mean, I guess I don't _hate_ it."

"But you don't like it either." Hiruzen observed.

Naruto shrugged. "It's kind of boring… 'specially when we're doing those stupid history lessons." he said testily. "Iruka-sensei just drones on and on, and I just get so tired… I mean, who even _cares_ about the exact date when the Second Shinobi World War began?"

"History isn't something you can just ignore, Naruto." Hiruzen said kindly. "Though… I do empathize with you. Back in the day, with Hashirama-sensei and Tobirama-sensei… I can admit that I fell asleep a fair number of times, especially when they started to _really_ get into the history of the Senju clan."

Naruto stuck out his tongue. "History is just dumb!" he said. "I mean, no one is even gonna _care_ who the other Hokage were when I become Hokage. They'll just like-" He adopted a very high pitched whine. "'Naruto-sama! Oh, you're so awesome, how can we take care of your every need and-'"

"That's enough." Hiruzen said chuckling. "I'm a little offended… I'd have hoped you would at least mention me… or the Yondaime."

"You'll get mentions." Naruto said fervently. "But the _real_ attention is gonna be on me, the Godaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto!" He puffed out his chest proudly.

Hiruzen smiled. "Naruto… do you mind if I asked you something?" he said.

Naruto blinked. "Go ahead, Sandaime-jiichan! 'slong as it isn't something boring, I'm all ears!"

"I suppose you could consider it boring… depending on your point of view." Hiruzen admitted. "But, I think I'd like your opinion on it." He took a breath. "There's a group of people in the village that have been discriminated-"

"What's that?" Naruto chirped.

"They… erm… they haven't been treated very kindly by Konoha and its people." Hiruzen said. "Like I said, they've been discriminated against… for a very, very long time."

"Why have they been… uh… de-scirminated against?" Naruto asked, blinking those big blue eyes of his up at Hiruzen.

"It's hard to say." Hiruzen murmured. "They've never been very social people… but there's plenty of other groups that are the same way. The best reason I can think of is… well, this particular groups were quite at odds with my predecessors… namely, the Nidaime and the Shodai. I think that sort of… mutual resentment has carried over to even the present day."

"So… just treat them a little more nicely!" Naruto said. "That's all you gotta do, right?"

"If only things were that simple." Hiruzen said. "But… unfortunately, not everyone _wants_ to treat them with a little more kindness, Naruto. The world just doesn't work that way, I'm afraid." He let out a long, lingering sigh. "Even as Hokage, this kind of thing isn't something I can just wave my hand and make disappear. Both sides - even my colleagues, I'm afraid, seem to want nothing else but to escalate things further. And soon… I fear that it'll go _too_ far, down a path Konoha cannot afford to take."

Naruto frowned. He paused, and Hiruzen stopped as well, the blonde seeing the aged look on Hiruzen's face. Naruto leaned forward, wrapping his 'grandpa' in a big hug, his tiny arms wrapped around Hiruzen's stomach. "Don't worry, Sandaime-jiichan." Naruto said fervently. "I know you can fix anything!"

Hiruzen allowed something resembling a smile to curl his lips. "I hope so, Naruto." he said, ruffling the blonde's hair affectionately. "I hope so."

* * *

Sasuke couldn't help but heave a sigh, his dark eyes focused on the chalkboard in front of him. Every now and then, he would scribble a note down on the paper in front of him, as Iruka directed the class to do exactly that.

He blinked.

"Sasuke?" Iruka was saying. "Can you-"

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "I can hear you."

"Excellent." Iruka said, smiling kindly, the scar on his nose crinkling. "Could you please answer the question on the board for the class, then?"

He blinked several more times… the words on the chalkboard seeming out of focus for a moment. Then, almost robotically, he answered the question. "The answer is the Shodai _and_ the Sandaime. Both of them are referred to as a God of Shinobi."

"Precisely!" Iruka chirped, directing his gaze to the rest of the class.

Whatever else he said faded into the background for Sasuke. His mind was elsewhere, and even as he copied the notes, and listened patiently to the chunin teacher's exceedingly long lecture, Sasuke knew that he wasn't absorbing any of it.

A quiz was passed around about twenty minutes later. Ten questions in all, each of them exceedingly easy. His pencil flew across the paper, smooth as silk, Sasuke skillfully answering the questions. Maybe his inattention would result in one or two missed answers, but so long as he got a passing grade, Sasuke couldn't really care.

This was the kind of quiz that was only going to be collected when everyone was done with it. And considering Sasuke was one of, if not _the_ first done… well, he had quite a lot of time to kill. He was never much of a… doodler, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and his bored mind was stuck between two things - cloud watching, or doodling.

Doodling won out.

He blinked.

Sasuke had chosen to simply flip the quiz paper over, and scribble on the back of it.

Some kids might cover the entire paper in nonsensical drawings - maybe pictures of kunai, or of jutsu that were copied straight from the textbooks.

Ten minutes had passed in what seemed to be a millisecond. He could see Iruka, out of the corner of his eye, coming and collecting papers.

One image lay in the center of his paper.

A three-pointed shuriken.

Sasuke swallowed, and yet, the lump that had formed in his throat refused to cease and desist.

" _Tou-san… is there a second form of the sharingan?'"_

' _There is, Sasuke; but it is a cursed power, one that requires one of the most heinous acts imaginable to achieve. I won't tell you any more about it, for your safety… but, the only Uchihas to ever obtain this second form of the sharingan ended up as some of the most infamous names in shinobi history."_

" _Like who, tou-san?"_

" _Uchiha Madara."_

 _A pause._

" _The one who…?"_

" _There's no doubt that he wielded this power." Fugaku cut him off curtly. "And that he used it to nearly killed the Shodai Hokage on numerous occasions… some say that it drove him mad, others say that it gave him a power that an Uchiha without it cannot imagine."_

" _What do you say, tou-san?"_

" _... an Uchiha that wields this cursed power… it's a thought that I can scarcely imagine, Sasuke. Anybody who has this second form of the sharingan… likely has become a shadow of his former self."_

" _Tou-san, what-"_

" _I will not tell you any more, Sasuke. Forget that this conversation ever happened. Understand?"_

 _A bowed head. "Yes, tou-san."_

He and his father's conversation played in his head.

Sasuke grit his teeth. And with a thousand times more venom than necessary, he erased the three-pointed shuriken from the back of his paper, pressing the quiz into Iruka's hand the second the chunin came around.

He felt his breathing quicken.

' _Nii-san.'_ Sasuke thought. _'What have you done?'_

* * *

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 **The plot is starting to really begin now. Things are going to get very interesting very fast. Stay tuned!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I think this chapter came out rather well. So, I hope you guys enjoy it, :). Don't forget to leave a review, I really appreciate them.**

* * *

A somber air had fallen over the Uchiha compound.

Ever since the end of the third war, funerals had become an uncommon affair for the clan. Sasuke had never even been to one - at least, as far back as he could possibly hope to remember.

This was his first one… and unfortunately, he had been cursed to go to the funeral of someone he knew. Sasuke and Shisui had not been close. Perhaps, Shisui had baby sitted Sasuke once or twice; maybe, he had walked Sasuke home from the academy on a day when no one else could. But despite the fact that they hadn't been any closer than cousins normally were, Sasuke still mourned his loss - if mostly because of Itachi.

Itachi was his brother, and despite the stoic front he presented to everyone, Sasuke could read him better than perhaps anyone. He could see the anguish in his eyes, the tiredness in his face, the way his gaze hollowed as the funeral ceremony went on.

It was long, and bitter. They hadn't managed to recover Shisui's body - and thus, they were simply doing the rites over an empty casket. The entire Uchiha clan was there, from the youngest child to the most elderly man. Several of Shisui's non-Uchiha friends were there too, a fair amount of them extraordinarily pretty girls. Even the Hokage was there… though, Sasuke noticed, he seemed to be fairly isolated from the vast majority of the funeral goers, who were Uchihas.

Sasuke swallowed.

And he paid his respects, alongside his family. It was a very solemn ceremony, Sasuke standing still, his eyes fixated on the casket that didn't hold even a bit of Shisui. Mikoto calmly dabbed at her red eyes with a black handkerchief. Fugaku's face was stoic, though lines of mild anguish crisscrossed it as well. And Itachi… well, Itachi stood there, fists clenched, his eyes seeming even blacker than usual.

Once it was over and done with, they lowered the empty casket into the grave. They covered it with six feet of dirt. The Hokage gave a short speech - though nearly half the crowd of Uchihas turned and left when the Sandaime began to talk, overcome by grief, though at least that was the impression Sasuke got.

Mikoto placed one of her hands on Sasuke's. "It's time to go." she said softly, her dark eyes still red.

"Okay." Sasuke said.

Fugaku was already ten paces ahead of them… and Itachi had disappeared off somewhere. As Mikoto solemnly lead him away from the funeral - the Hokage still talking, despite the majority of his audience having left - Sasuke glanced around, searching for that familiar pony tail and stoic face. If Itachi had merely walked off to exchange a word of condolences with one of Shisui's friends, he wouldn't be hard to notice… but if he had truly disappeared, then Sasuke knew he wouldn't ever be able to find him.

The walk back to the Uchiha compound was quiet.

Konoha was still lively as ever, the people exuding a vibrancy that made it seem as if _everything_ , absolutely everything was perfect and alright, that there were no worries, or problems, or struggles. But not everything was alright. It's as if, Sasuke thought, Uchiha Shisui hadn't existed to these people - he had been a hero, a prodigy, and it had only taken a few days after his death for them to forget him.

He swallowed heavily, and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. _'There's no point in getting angry.'_ Sasuke thought. _'You hardly knew him. And these people probably didn't know him past what they heard in stories.'_

Again, it was the dull ache he felt for his brother that made Shisui's death ten times worse.

"Fugaku, you keep going." Mikoto called ahead. "I… need to talk to Sasuke for a moment."

He glanced at them. "Alright," Fugaku said softly, before walking off, swiftly disappearing into the crowd of mourning Uchihas that formed a sort of funeral procession leading back to their compound.

Sasuke watched, as Mikoto smoothed out the front of her bleak, black dress. She knelt in front of him so that they were eye-level… and the look that she gave him was so sorrowful, so heart wrenching, that he almost physically took a step back.

"Kaa-san…?" he murmured.

"I want you to promise me something, Sasuke." Mikoto whispered, her soft voice sounding strained. She cast a worried glance to either side, both focusing her gaze directly at Sasuke - not ceasing their eye contact for a moment longer than absolutely necessary.

"I-"

"I _need_ you to promise me something." Mikoto said, swiftly cutting him off. "Promise me…" She choked, and blinked her eyes rapidly. "If you ever come home… and… and if you see _anything_ out of the ordinary… don't investigate, don't look for me, your father, or Itachi… just _run_. Okay?"

"What are you not telling me, kaa-san?" Sasuke asked, his voice muted.

"Promise me this, Sasuke." Mikoto said, reaching one of her hands up and cupping his cheek. "Please."

He was silent for a long moment. "Of course, kaa-san. If- If I see something's up, I'll… run." Never before had he been told to run - he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas did _not_ retreat as a matter of principle… but if there was anyone that could make Sasuke do things he would normally never consider, it was his mother.

She smiled at him, though it was clearly as hollow as Itachi's expression had been at the funeral. "Good." Mikoto said softly, easing herself back up to her feet. "I… um… how does take-out sound tonight, Sasuke?" she asked him, grasping his hand once more. "I don't really feel like cooking."

Sasuke frowned, though he turned his head away so that his mother couldn't see it. "Sure, kaa-san." he said. "That sounds fine to me."

As they walked to the nearest shop, a light rain began to fall.

* * *

Naruto blinked.

Sakura blinked.

They turned to face each other.

"I'm not going to repeat myself again," Iruka said with a sigh, rubbing the scar on his nose almost absentmindedly. "If neither of you can find a partner, then you're going to have to work together."

It wasn't that they had a problem with collaborating… but, they just didn't know each other all that well. Working together on an assignment or two did not make a friendship - and other than a few friendly greetings, Sakura and Naruto really hadn't interacted all that much.

"We'd still need a third person, Iruka-sensei." Sakura said observantly.

"I'm sure you can find someone." Iruka said, gesturing to the classroom at large - which was bustling, the vast majority of their classmates having already seeked their groups out and begun talking about what they were to do. It was hard to make out through the crowd who was with who, and whether there _were_ any people that weren't already in a group.

Iruka left it at that, and returned to his desk.

Sakura just frowned for a good minute or so. Now, Sakura's first instinct had been to pair up with Hinata - but she had been snapped up faster than the pink haired girl could fathom, joining Kiba and that weird kid in the hoodie. Even Shikamaru and Chouji were paired, with a loud blonde girl - one that drifted in circles akin to Ami, her purple haired tormentor, but didn't really hang around them as anything more than acquaintances.

Again, it wasn't that she was _against_ being partnered with Naruto… he just wasn't her first choice. And as for Naruto, well, he was just glad to have a teammate at all - and with one of the prettiest girls in the whole class at that.

Sakura carefully scanned the class, her sharp green eyes attentive as ever. _'She's too dumb. He's way too talkative. She's one of Ami's friends…'_ She placed a hand on her hip, the other rubbing her chin absentmindedly.

Naruto being… well, Naruto, decided _not_ to take the slow and analytical approach. Instead, he leapt forward after a moment's pause, startling Sakura. "What are you doing?" she said, reaching her hand out - before stopping.

"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto said, grinning cheekily. Really, it was just a coincidence that _Sasuke_ was the one he choose - Naruto had merely gone for the first partnerless person he had seen. "Why don't you partner up with… uh… Sakura-chan-" His cheeks turned pink. "and I?"

Sasuke had drifted off to a corner of the room, a surly look about him. His dark hair hid the even darker look in his eyes, though it was still clear that he had _not_ wanted to be partnered with anyone. "Why would I want to work with you two?" he said testily.

Sakura stepped up to Naruto's side. "Because Iruka-sensei said that you _need_ a partner, and you'll get a zero otherwise." she said - her inner self cheering. Sasuke, a. wasn't going to talk her ear off, b. wasn't one of Ami's notorious friends, and c. was _more_ than smart enough to help on the project.

"And… um… your parents are probably going to be pretty disappointed if that happens." Naruto added, still grinning - though it seemed a little strained.

Sasuke gave them a hard look… and then, he sighed. "Alright." Sasuke said, folding his arms over his chest. "I'll work with you two."

"Sweet!" Naruto said. A pause. "So… what are we supposed to be doing, anyways?" he asked after a moment, turning to Sakura.

She shook her head. "You're hopeless," Sakura said, though there was a thin smile on her face. She pushed a curl of pink hair out of her eyes. "It's actually pretty simple. All we have to do is make a poster board about one of the major clans of Konoha that Iruka-sensei will assign us, add pictures and their history and such, and that's it. We could probably get it done tonight, especially if my kaa-san lets me get the stuff we need tonight."

Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets. "Alright." he said. "Do we have our clan already?" Silently, he was hoping for his own - he'd have to dictate a lot of history to the two idiots he had the misfortune to be paired with, but it made certain that they would be done a lot faster.

"Not yet." Sakura said, smiling. "I think he's waiting for everyone to get into their groups."

Considering the rather frantic nature of the classroom in that very moment - mostly, large friend groups trying to divide in a way that gave everyone someone to talk to - it was going to be a while. Sasuke sighed, and slid into a seat. Sakura flipped open a textbook, and began to read. Naruto stared out the window, his head on the desk, his blue eyes lazily following the drifting clouds outside.

It took quite a while for Iruka to get the class in order - but, by the end, everyone was organized into groups of three. Iruka went about handing everyone their clan.

"Hmm," Iruka hummed, as he stopped in front of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. "What clan should I give to you three…" He held a stack of papers in hand, each with a simple synopsis about each clan, the name, and a list that would help them find some reading material to get more information. "I think Uchiha would be a little too easy." Iruka said, smiling slightly - Sasuke scowled. "How about we go with the Akimichi." he continued, slipping that particular paper from the pile and placing it in front of the three of them. "Remember, it's due in one week! You can turn it in whenever you want though, and I'll go ahead and give you an early grade… maybe some extra credit, too."

He walked off after that.

Naruto grinned kind of half heartedly - honestly, he had not even an _inkling_ as to who the Akimichi were, aside from his brief interactions with Chouji. They ate a lot, and really hated being called fat; that was the most Naruto could summarize.

Sasuke rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Let's get this done tonight." he said, glaring at the paper in front of them as if it had insulted his mother.

"Well… who's house are we going to do it at?" Sakura asked.

"We're not doing it at mine." Sasuke said flatly, and left it at that. He wasn't going to have them over… the idea of his brother's teasing and his mother practically bawling at the idea of her little Sasuke having friends would drive him into hiding.

"I don't think my parents would be comfortable with me having two boys over." Sakura said honestly. Apparently, a seven year old could be up to some 'unsavory' things with two other seven year olds, and Sakura didn't fancy having her parents helicoptering above the three of them while they worked.

Sakura and Sasuke both looked at Naruto.

He shrugged. "I don't have any problems with you guys coming over." Naruto said, shrugging. "Then again… I won't have any food for you guys."

"You don't have any food at your house?" Sakura asked.

"I do." Naruto said. "But it's all ramen, and it's all mine!" He stuck out his tongue at them.

"I don't like ramen." Sasuke said.

"I guess ramen is… alright." Sakura said. "But I'm sure I could bring something for the two of us to eat, though." she continued, giving Sasuke a nod. "Where do you live?"

"Uh…" Naruto put a hand on his chin. "I don't know the address…" he said sheepishly.

Sakura smiled. "Don't worry… I'm sure we can figure something out." she said.

Once Iruka was done handing out the different clans to the various groups, he spent the last ten minutes or so of class answering questions - though none of what would eventually become Team Seven had any.

The bell rang, and the three of them shuffled out of the door, congregating just outside of the academy while their fellow students bustled around them. "What's the gameplan?" Naruto asked, beaming.

"Well, you and Sasuke-san can-"

"Just Sasuke is fine." Sasuke cut in.

Sakura flushed slightly. "You and… um… Sasuke can go to _your_ house together. I'm sure… Sasuke, will be able to memorize how to get there. I'll go get the things we'll need; Sasuke after you find out where Naruto's house is, can you head to the library and pick up a few books on the Akimichi clan?"

"Sure." Sasuke said.

"Great!" Sakura said, smiling radiantly. "Like I said, I can get my kaa-san to take me to the store to get some supplies we're going to need. Sasuke," she said, turning to him. "Can you meet me back here in about… an hour and a half? You can lead me to Naruto's house once you know where it is."

He shrugged, and she took that to be a yes. "What am I supposed to do?" Naruto asked.

"You should probably clean up your house." Sakura said.

He pouted. "How did you know my house was messy, Sakura-chan…?" Naruto whined, his cheeks pink.

She grinned toothily. "Call it a woman's intuition." Sakura said. "Everyone know what they have to do?" The both of them nodded. "Alright, let's get this done then, guys."

They split up, Naruto and Sasuke heading in one direction, Sakura in another.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, the 'planning' stages were rather uneventful. Naruto lead Sasuke to his apartment, the Uchiha carefully memorizing the way there.

Then, they went their separate ways as well - Naruto heading into his place to do some cleaning up… there was a variety of ramen cups and old underpants that needed to be picked up, after all.

Sasuke went to the library; he had learned his lesson about not asking for help before, and this time he simply went up to the librarian, who lead him to the section all about the different clans of Konoha. From there, it was easy to pick out a few books about the Akimichi, check them out, and then lug them back to the academy entrance.

Sakura's part was probably the most difficult, though none of their three tasks were particularly tough. It wasn't all that tough to convince her mother to take her out to the store… but actually picking out the markers and such were rather tough. She had to be careful - for if it was too 'girly' of a color scheme, Sasuke and Naruto would surely object… but she didn't want it to be overwhelmingly masculine either. In the end, she had to compromise… sure, there was purple and yellow in there, but she also grabbed orange, blue, and red. Hopefully, the boys would be satisfied with it.

She met Sasuke in front of the academy, her tiny frame dwarfed by the bags she was carrying. Her arms were shaking, her hair was slightly damp with sweat, but she held up - giving Sasuke a shaky smile through the gap in between the bags.

He sighed. "Give me one of those." Sasuke said.

"N-no. I'm- I'm good, honest." Sakura said.

"You're not good." he grumbled. "Give me one of them." She acquiesced, and actually breathed a sigh of relief as Sasuke relieved her of one of the bags. They weren't too heavy on their own - but together, they were a lot of trouble for a petite seven year old. Sasuke, however, seemed to have no trouble carrying both a bag and a sizeable collection of books at the same time. Stupid boys, Sakura thought, teeth gritted.

Sasuke lead her to Naruto's house, the two of them hardly talking on the way there. Sakura let out a sigh of relief as they stopped in front of his door, the pink haired girl gently setting her bag down on the ground. Sasuke did the same, along with the books of course, and knocked on the door.

It swung open after a moment, and Naruto grinned cheekily at them from within the brightly lit interior of his house. "Hey guys!" he said, his wet hair making it plainly obvious that he had taken a shower - his clothes seemed a lot cleaner than usual as well, and there a dab of toothpaste on the corner of his lip. "Come on in!"

The two of them hefted up their bags (and in Sasuke's case, the books) once more, and stepped inside. Now, it wasn't pristine, _sparkling_ clean - but it was acceptable, though Sasuke still wrinkled his nose at it a little. Naruto took them into his living room, and they dropped the bags onto the coffee table.

"I couldn't get the stains out of the couch…" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck with a flush to his cheeks. "Sorry."

Sakura bit her lip. She wasn't daft - and was more than well aware of Naruto's orphan situation. "It's okay." she said, smiling. Sasuke's lip curled, though he didn't say anything. "Let's get started."

The contents of the bag were rather extensive. Markers, highlighters, pencils and pens… not to mention paper - colored, lined, and blank white - along with an assortment of other things: colored pencils, crayons, paper clips and tape, and… what seemed to be a pair of socks ("I meant to take those out," Sakura said, grabbing the socks and stuffing them into her pocket, her cheeks pink.). Add on top of that the poster board, and two pairs of scissors (one of them safety scissors, and Sasuke didn't miss how Sakura's eyes drifted to Naruto when those were taken out), there was more than enough to do the project.

Sakura flipped open one of the books, shoved her nose into it roughly enough that it might have skimmed some ink off of the pages, and began to read. Naruto uncapped one of the markers, and took to doodling idly on one of the pages.

Sasuke glanced at the clock.

' _3:30 P.M.'_

He sighed.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"... is a very liberal clan, and is highly respected both in Konoha and in the world." Sakura finished, writing down the words on the poster as she said them aloud. She grinned radiantly, leaning back to admire her handiwork. "That should be it!" Sakura announced proudly.

Naruto groaned. "Fi-nal- _lly_!" he said, throwing himself backwards and sprawling across the couch. "Ugh, I'm so tired!"

Sasuke merely cracked his knuckles, his hand a tad bit cramped from all the writing he had to do. For the most part, it had been Sakura researching, Sasuke writing, and Naruto showing a decent talent for drawing… stick figures, that is. Still, it sufficed for their purposes, and he contributed in other ways as well.

"Who's going to bring the project in tomorrow?" Sasuke asked, his voice rather dulled.

"I can take care of that!" Naruto said, jabbing a thumb at his chest. "I mean, it's already here, right?" he said.

Sasuke shrugged. "That's fine with me."

Sakura probably would have voiced a concern about whether Naruto was going to be able to actually get it to the academy without dropping it or ruining it in some way, but honestly, she was starting to quite literally _hallucinate_ her bed, with its silky sheets and cool, comforting embrace…

"Sure…" Sakura said, afterwards yawning. "Sasuke and I are going to head out then."

"Alright!" Naruto said, beaming. The three of them walked to the foyer, Naruto pitching them a cheerful goodbye before carefully shutting the door behind them. Sasuke and Sakura walked down the steps together, Sakura making a mental note to pay Naruto a visit later and grab the leftover pencils and such. Once they reached the street, they gave each other a nod, and went their separate ways.

The walk to the Uchiha compound wasn't that long, thankfully. Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets, the sounds of Konoha nightlife soothing to his young ears - distant babble of conversation, the sound of drinks being clinked together in a nearby bar, a party of civilian teenagers raging in a two story flat.

It was quiet as he got nearer to his clan's home, thankfully. Being trapped in a room with the likes of Naruto and Sakura had been near torture for the poor Uchiha. Gradually, the sounds began to dim as he walked further from the city center. The compound wasn't quite in the rural section of Konoha, but it was isolated enough that he had to stray from the beaten path in order to get to it.

He walked through the entrance of the compound unmolested. _'No guards.'_ Sasuke thought. _'Strange.'_

The first street was… empty.

Eerily so.

Sasuke paused about halfway down the road, his head suddenly jerking up. Was that…? He could have sworn that he had saw something - a flicker out of the corner of his eye, something… or someone, perched on top of that pole. There was nothing there, though...

A nearby light flickered ominously.

He gulped, though it seemed to do nothing to banish the lump that was settling in his throat.

Sasuke took a few cautious steps forward.

The wind began to blow, furiously - icy and cold, though Sasuke doubted that was the reason the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end.

 _Thump._

He was approaching the corner now…

 _Thump._

His heartbeat was roaring in his ears…

 _Thump. Thump._

He turned the corner, and gasped. Before he could even process what was going on, Sasuke threw himself forward, landing on his knees beside the limp form of…

"Uncle Teyaki…" Sasuke whispered. He grabbed the man's shoulder and shook vigorously, but he wouldn't stir. He shook and shook, until Uncle Teyaki flipped over-

Dead. There was no mistaking it, for now that Sasuke could see his Uncle's chest, he could also see the slash mark that ran from his collarbone to his hip. Sasuke shook, as his eyes followed the unfathomably quantity of blood that seeped through Teyaki's clothes and pooled on the ground beneath him.

His very first instinct was to leap up, to throw himself down the street and quickly seek out his mother and father… surely, _they_ knew what was going on.

The image of his mother's face hovered before his very eyes.

" _If you ever come home… and… and if you see anything out of the ordinary… don't look for me, your father, or Itachi… just run. Okay?"_

She had made him promise.

A small part of him knew that it was in vain, but really, his young mind _wanted_ to believe that this was some sort of sick joke. Sasuke took his shaking hands, and pressed them against Uncle Teyaki's chest, whimpering as he felt his fingers brush against his bloodstained clothes. "Come on… please…" he whispered.

There was no heartbeat.

Dead, and he wasn't going to come back. There was no ambiguity about it anymore… no more hope to avoid the fact that for the second time in so many weeks, an Uchiha's life had been taken away.

Sasuke swallowed. His legs were shaking violently, and the fierce roar of his heartbeat in his ears had returned, but he managed to get to his feet.

It felt as if he was betraying his morals, his upbringing, his family - but mother had made him promise.

" _... just run."_

And he did.

Back down the street, turning the corner. He was running faster, faster than he ever had - for even now, he wasn't going to follow his mother's instructions to the letter. He wasn't going to leave his family behind. But a seven year old wasn't going to do anything all on his own, and he needed help.

He threw himself at the first shinobi he saw. She was tall, and intimidating - her hair wild and untamed, two distinctive red marks running along either cheek. "What is it, brat?" she grumbled almost testily, staring down at Sasuke.

"I-I need your help!" he said, grasping at the hem of her flak jacket with desperation.

She paused. "What for?" she said.

Sasuke swallowed once more. "There was- there was a body… my- my uncle's body… in the Uchiha compound!" he said, his voice strained. "He was… dead…"

A serious look dawned on her face. She could recognize an Uchiha when she saw one… and Uchihas didn't joke around with that kind of stuff. "Did you see anyone else there?" she said gruffly, taking him by surprise. "Anyone who could have done it?"

"There wasn't anybody else." Sasuke said. "It was… empty. I think-" He closed his eyes. "I think I saw more bodies further down the road…"

"Alright…" the woman said. "Alright." She took a step back, and to Sasuke's surprise, bit her thumb hard enough to draw blood. She slid her bloodied thumb against her palm. Then, she flashed through a number of hand seals, before slamming her palm down onto the earth.

In a poof of smoke appeared a great, big dog - one that had a patch slung over one of its eyes. It looked rather dirty and ruffled. "Tsume!" the dog hissed, and Sasuke took a step back in surprise. "You know that this is my bath tim-!"

"Can it, Kuromaru." Tsume - that was the woman's name, Sasuke realized - said. "We need to do some investigating in the Uchiha compound." She took a moment, slipping what seemed to be a small vial out of her pouch. It was filled with some type of liquid, that she promptly slathered over her hand. "This stuff has a distinctive smell." Tsume said, to answer Sasuke's questioning look. "My clan will be able to pick it up from our house and come running. You stay here." she said to Sasuke. "Kuromaru and I can-"

"No!" Sasuke declared fervently. "I'm… I'm not going to stay here and do nothing…!"

Once again, she paused. "Look, kid… if something's really going down at the Uchiha compound, you coming with us is only going to put yourself in danger."

"I don't care." he said flatly. "I… I can take care of myself! And, I- I know a few jutsu, so maybe I could help."

She bit her lip. "We don't have any time to lose." she said. "So I'm not going to press this any further… especially considering you'll probably come chasing after me anyways. Let's go." As easily as if she were picking up a baby, Tsume scooped him up, and slung him beneath her arm. Sasuke yelped as Tsume leapt into the air - and a distance that had taken him nearly ten minutes to cover took her a scant forty seconds. They touched down in front of the Uchiha compound, and Tsume allowed Sasuke to the ground. Kuromaru landed beside them, his one eye flitting about.

Tsume crouched beside Kuromaru. "What do you smell?" she asked, her voice tense.

Kuromaru's tail stood on end. He leaned upwards, and whispered something into Tsume's ear. Sasuke's stomach clenched as her face hardened considerably.

"Great." Tsume muttered, running a hand through her hair. "Just… just great." She stood up. "Stay close," she said to Sasuke. "And stay silent."

He nodded.

The three of them stepped into the Uchiha compound, the once vibrant place as quiet as a graveyard. It was dark, and the majority of the lights had been extinguished. Nothing moved. They turned the corner, and Sasuke flinched as Uncle Teyaki's body came into view.

Tsume crouched down beside Uncle Teyaki's corpse, and sniffed. "Dead." she murmured, reaching a hand forward and closing his eyes. "Definitely a shinobi's work." Tsume said. "This is not good, not good at all…"

Deeper into the compound they went. The anxiety stirring in Sasuke's stomach seemed to intensify, for there was more and more bodies. He couldn't even recognize some of them. Kunai and shuriken were scattered about, and some of the houses had been blown open as well.

It was sheer willpower keeping Sasuke moving. _'Find tou-san, find kaa-san, find Itachi.'_ he chanted inwardly. They would be fine. His parents, his brother, they were all unfathomably strong - whatever happened to Uncle Teyaki would not, _could_ not happen to them.

They were less than a block away from his house. A hundred meters, fifty, then-

A glint of steel. It was faster than Sasuke could comprehend, but Tsume was clearly skilled enough to dodge it. She threw herself to the side just in time, a split second later and the attack would have struck. There was a few _thunks_ , and his head wheeled up. There was a glint of red on the rooftop to their side, and then it was gone once again.

"Get down!" Tsume hissed, pushing Sasuke to the side. Whoever had thrown those kunai - Sasuke could see them sticking out of the wall - had disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. Tsume was tense, her shoulders locked, Kudomaru growling softly at her side.

There was a few yells. Sasuke watched as at least a dozen men - and dogs - appeared in flickers on either side of her. "Tsume-sama!" one of the men barked. "We got your signal," he said, gesturing to her liquid doused hand. "The others are coming now, what's going on?"

"We've got a killer out here on the loose, and the Uchiha aren't around to deal with him." Tsume announced, her voice authoritative. "You know what to do, boys!"

Whoever had done this had to be in the immediate vicinity. Sasuke could breathe a little easy - they were the Inuzuka clan, he now realized, and they were strong. Not as strong as the Uchiha, but so long as they could stay together, it would be fine. With a dozen jounin and their matriarch working together, and more on the way, whoever they were was going to be taken out, or at the very least driven away.

His heart leapt into his throat. _'Kaa-san, tou-san, Itachi…'_ he thought. Sasuke knew that they had to be in their house _somewhere_ , surely, they had just been taken shelter until help arrived. While the Inuzuka were busy tracking down the killer - Tsume supervising them - Sasuke broke away. Unnoticed, he slipped into his home.

Sasuke paused at the door, before kicking off his sandals. Mother had always told him that they weren't allowed on in the house, after all, no matter the circumstances.

If the compound had been silent, than his house was worse. There was nothing. And then, a bang, a distant scream - clearly, they had engaged the person who had done this awful thing. _"Earth Release: Flying Stones!"_ he heard a distant feminine voice roar, followed by several loud bangs.

His feet carried him forward, seemingly of their own accord.

Through the empty hallways…

 _Thump._

The kitchen, devoid of any life.

 _Thump._

The living room where Sasuke had taken his first steps, untouched and yet unmistakably empty.

 _Thump. Thump._

His heart, beating not fast, but clearly, as if every pump was battering the organ against his ribcage.

 _Thump._

A set of double doors… slightly ajar.

 _Thump._

He grabbed the handles.

 _Thump._

And opened the doors.

Two bodies laid in the center of the room.

He threw himself forward.

 _Thump._

Sasuke pulled the shoulder of one, and it flipped over.

"Tou-san…" he whispered.

He flipped the second one, his heart in his throat, because-

"Kaa-san…" he whispered, staring into the dead eyes of his mother.

His breathing seemed to stop.

The distant sounds of fighting seemed to have faded entirely.

Blood, seeping through the cracks in the hardwood floor. Some of it brushed against his fingers, and he recoiled, for it was sticky and hot, the feel of it making his skin crawl.

He didn't inhale, not until his lungs were thirsting for air, not until his body _forced_ him to take in a raspy breath.

When the blood began to pool beneath his knees, he didn't move this time.

There was, through the storm that had formed in his mind, a moment of clarity.

Dead.

Both of them… dead, like Uncle Teyaki, like Shisui...

" _An Uchiha never cries, Sasuke." Fugaku told him, a little while before Shisui's funeral, when they were still getting ready to go. "Shisui's passing is… unfortunate, I will admit that. But you must always show resiliency in the face of loss if you are to get past it. Don't let your emotions consume you, because you will never be the same afterwards."_

An awful, choking sound escaped his lips.

He couldn't stop them, the tears.

"Tou-san…" His voice cracked. "Kaa-san…" His seven year old mind, still striving for any little possible escape from this nightmare. "Wake up…" Sasuke whispered, grasping their shoulders, shaking their limp bodies with as much power as his small body could muster. "P-please… don't go…"

 _Drip, drip, drip._ The sound of his tears smacking against the hardwood floors. There was a glimmer, of something red reflected back at him from the depths of his mother's eyes, though Sasuke took no notice.

"Please…"

The first sob escaped him. Tears, now unhindered by anything, rolled down his cheeks in droves.

"Don't leave me… please… please…" he whimpered. " _Please_ …"

…

…

…

* * *

 **Sasuke didn't even see Itachi.**

 **No Tsukiyomi.**

 **No 'pep talk' about the MS.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter... if you liked it, don't forget to leave a review; it takes thirty seconds to leave one, and trust me, whether they're incredibly detailed and long, or short, I appreciate them, :)**

 **Have a nice day!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Last chapter was a pretty defining one, so I hope this is an appropriate follow up. This one has a pretty heavy focus on Sasuke... for obvious reasons; I will try to balance it out in the upcoming chapters, however. Enjoy!**

"Uchiha Yoroi." A pause, filled with the scribbling of a pen across parchment. "Dead on arrival, identified using credentials found in his pocket." Her voice was shaking ever so slightly, sounding slightly hoarse. After all, this process of identification had been going on for nearly half an hour.

She couldn't help but notice the creases and wrinkles on her leader's face, the way his usually smiling lips were curled down in a deep frown, the dark circles beneath his eyes and that unearthly sorrow marring his expression. In one night, it seemed, the Sandaime Hokage had aged at least another decade - and he had been no spring chicken beforehand.

Then again, having an entire clan being massacred beneath your watch could do that a man.

It took her moment to realize that his lips were moving.

Inuzuka Tsume shook her head, clearing his thoughts, returning away from the safety of her musing to the stark reality present within the Hokage's office.

"Continue." the Sandaime said, presumably for a second time since she hadn't heard him the first.

"... right…" Tsume murmured, licking her dried and chapped lips. "Uchiha Eriko... " She had a fairly lengthy list in her hand - after the attacker had been repulsed, she'd had her clan comb through the compound for survivors… unfortunately, the only thing they'd brought back had been ID cards and more bodies. "Dead on arrival. Ide-" She took a deep breath. "Identified by her name on a drawing beside her bed."

Hiruzen jotted down that last name, his fingers rigid and stiff. "And that is the last of the identified victims, correct?" he said, his voice blank.

"That is correct, sir." Tsume said, her hand clutching the list so tightly that it seemed almost ready to tear.

"By my count, there are nine Uchihas that are still unaccounted for." Hiruzen continued. His eyes… they were dark, and though their gazes were squared directly at each other, Tsume felt as if he were looking right through her.

Tsume swallowed. "There were… eight bodies that either had no identification, or were charred and damaged to the point where we'll have to rely on dental work to properly identify them." she said, her voice slightly shaky. Even she could hardly face the gravity of the situation. "That leaves one Uchiha unaccounted for."

"Then… I suppose we can assume that one is the perpetrator, since nobody was detected moving through the village's barrier." Tsume didn't question that assumption - the village's barrier was practically foolproof after all. "I have a list of the unaccounted Uchiha right here; two of them are children, three are elderly and wouldn't have a hope of committing this crime. One of them lost his leg in the Third Shinobi war. And the last two, well…" He lowered his gaze from hers. "I sincerely doubt that two genin could have done this. That leaves…" A sigh escaped his lips. "... Uchiha Itachi."

Tsume stilled, and she felt her breathing quicken slightly. "Uchiha… Uchiha Itachi?" she said, after a moment of shocked silence. "But-"

"The only survivor was his little brother… Sasuke." Hiruzen said, resting his elbows on the desk. "From the way your report puts it, it seems unlikely that Sasuke was spared purposefully - rather, it seems that you and your clan's presence prevented Uchiha Itachi from committing the most heinous, and presumably the chronologically last of his planned crimes."

Killing your distant cousin was an unspeakable evil. Killing your parents was something that would doom your soul. But killing your sweet, innocent little brother… someone who loved unconditionally, and had no chance of fighting back… that was the worst act of all.

"Are you sure?" Tsume said. "How… how could it be him? Then again…" Her mind was putting together the pieces. "Who else would have been able to take on the whole clan, if not their resident genius?"

"Uchiha Itachi being the perpetrator is merely an educated guess on my part." Hiruzen said simply. "Until we have successfully identified those eight bodies, and matched them to a name and person, we will be unable to know for sure who did this. So… and this is not a request, but an _order_ … I would appreciate that you not divulge this hypothesis to anyone, until I see to it that there is no possibility of misidentification. Do you understand?"

"Of course, sir." Tsume said.

"Excellent… excellent." Hiruzen murmured. "I have enough on my plate as it is… having to break this to the village at large. Every single Uchiha, dispatched in a single night - if I wasn't as popular as I was, the populace would have my head for letting it happen under my watch." He let out a dry chuckle.

"I understand the seriousness of the situation, Hokage-sama." Tsume murmured, her fists balling up in her lap. "And… if it is not too pressing for me to ask… what… what is your plan for the survivor, Sasuke?" she said. "That boy… he's about Kiba's age, I think, maybe even in my little rascal's class. I can't imagine what must be going through that poor child's mind right now, what he's going to think, what everyone else is going to think about what happened."

Hiruzen was silent for a long moment. "The boy's only family is a murderer now." he said, and it was clear that he was choosing his words carefully. "There's no clans close to the Uchiha that could take him in… perhaps if Kushina was still alive she would be willing, but otherwise… I'm at a loss. I suppose the only choice that will keep my advisors content would be to take a more laissez faire approach to his upbringing from here on out. Too much meddling, and they may fear that I am attempting to cultivate the sharingan for my own personal gain."

"That makes sense, I guess." Tsume mumbled. "But… you're not seriously suggesting that you leave that poor boy all alone after what happened?"

"It's the best I can do with what I have." Hiruzen said. "The village's political balance of power is fragile as it is, and I cannot allow a boy, no matter how important his kekkei genkai is, to upset it. I will keep an eye on him… I'll attempt to make sure his development remains as normal as possible given the circumstances… but that's all I can do."

Tsume's fists tightened even more, to the point where her sharp fingernails began to ground into her palms. "Fine." she said. " _Fine_." Tsume said once more, much more roughly this time. "But I'm going to drop in on him from time to time, consequences be damned."

"I suppose I would not be able to prevent you from doing so in any case." Hiruzen said.

"You're right about that one." Tsume grumbled.

Hiruzen took a deep breath. "The boy will be waking up sooner or later. He was... traumatized when they brought him in, so I instructed the hospital staff to provide him a sedative in order to afford him a good night's sleep… he deserves that at the very least." he said, turning in his chair so that he could stare out at the village, the sun slowly rising on the horizon. The skies were a magnificent blend of pink, light blue and a purple-like color; there was not a single cloud in the sky, and already, it looked as if it was going to be a wonderful day. For most people, that is.

"What are you going to tell him?" Tsume asked, her voice and tone both cautious.

Hiruzen exhaled. "I haven't decided yet." he said, and in that moment, he sounded as if he were three centuries old. "I suppose that is all we have to discuss for now, Tsume."

He didn't expressly tell her that she was dismissed, but the implication was plain to her. Tsume stood up, still clutching the list of successfully identified Uchihas. "Have a good day, Hokage-sama." she said, bowing to him despite the fact that he couldn't see her.

"You be careful, now." Hiruzen said.

He was silent, even long after Tsume had stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

The village sprawled out before them was the same one he had gazed upon the previous day - in appearance, at the very least. It wasn't the same village in spirit, neither was same in numbers. As the sun rose over Konoha once more, an entire clan lay dead, and only one survivor was left to tell their story, their creed, their traditions.

Hiruzen rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. He turned in his chair once more, and pulled open a drawer; inside was a bottle of sake, and a dusty shot glass. For the first time in nearly a decade, he was going to drink while on duty.

With all that was going on… he certainly needed it.

* * *

For the first time _ever_ , Naruto actually made it to class on time. He actually appeared a little silly, at least that's what Sakura thought, his tiny, bony frame dwarfed by the project in his hands. The Akimichi family crest winked at her from the top of the paper… though, it seemed a little faded; she really should have given it a fresh coating of marker before she and Sasuke had left Naruto's apartment.

"Set it down," Sakura directed, pointing to an empty table. Class hadn't started properly - not even the always early Iruka had shown his face yet. "I need to make sure that you didn't mess anything up."

"Aww… Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined, even as he carried out her instructions, carefully spreading the project out across the desk. "You don't trust me?"

She didn't answer, and he wilted slightly, though he was still grinning. "Alright…" Sakura said, having swept over the project with her emerald eyes at least a half dozen times in less than a minute. "Everything _seems_ to be in order… seems to be…" She pursed her lips together. "I thought Sasuke-kun might be running late because he was with you, helping you to bring this in." Sakura said. "Did you not see him when you were bringing the project inside?"

"Nope." Naruto said. "I saw a couple of teachers and Iruka-sensei talking down the hall, but Sasuke definitely wasn't with them."

"Hmm." Sakura hummed. "I guess he's just running late, then. Hopefully he'll get in the class before we have to present this, though.

Naruto blinked. "We have to present this?" he said.

She frowned at him. "Of course we do." Sakura said. "Why wouldn't we present the project? Iruka-sensei said it wasn't mandatory, but we'll get extra credit if we do it."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea…" he murmured, his cheeks heating up slightly.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but the words never came out. A sudden flurry of movement distracted her, and she whirled around, to face a rather pale Iruka who had just swiftly stepped into the classroom.

The class was silent. "Good morning, every- everyone." Iruka said, his fingers twitching slightly at his side. "I would like for you all to get into your seats." There was a sort of lilt to his voice, an underlying tone that made every single one of them comply immediately. Naruto and Sakura slid into their seats, as did the rest of the class.

Once everyone was seated, there was only one empty seat… and that was in between Sakura and Naruto. _'Where is he?'_ Sakura thought, biting her lip. _'And what's wrong with Iruka-sensei?'_ She and Naruto briefly exchanged a glance, yet neither of them were willing to talk, not with Iruka's hawk-like gaze directed at the class.

"There's something that I… that I would like to tell you all." Iruka said. The volume of his voice was hardly above a slight murmur, but every word was heard by the class - a testament to how silent it was. "The Hokage informed the shinobi ranks less than an hour ago of a- a tragedy… and will reveal what happened to the civilian population, which includes you all, later today. However, I- I think that since… since you're all in his class, that you deserve to find out what happened." He swallowed.

"What… what happened, Iruka-sensei?" It was Ino, a pretty blonde girl clad in all purple, who said that.

Iruka's face was sadder than Naruto or Sakura had ever seen it. He looked worn… he looked beaten… he looked like a man who'd been faced with more death than any person of his age and kindness deserved to be.

He drew a breath.

All their little faces, staring at him intently… and none of them aware of why their one absent classmate wasn't there. They were blissfully ignorant - they didn't deserve to have this kind of knowledge thrust upon them, the fact that so many of their fellow villagers had been slewn just the previous night, but… but Iruka could see no other way. Either they could receive it from the Hokage in an impersonal speech, or he, their teacher, could tell them himself.

He chose option B.

"Last night…" Iruka began. "... an unknown perpetrator slipped into the Uchiha clan's compound, and killed _every last person in the clan_ -"

He was going to continue, but a girl in the front let out a horrified gasp. "The entire clan?!" the girl said.

"What about Sasuke-kun?" Ino said, her face stricken with shock. "Is he- is he _dead_?"

"Sasuke's dead!?" Naruto piped up. "He… he can't be!"

Sasuke wasn't the king of popularity in their classroom… that much was obvious even to an outside observer. But… there was a sort of camaraderie that emerged when you were in the same class as someone. You grew to know them, whether you'd only talked to them once, or had become best friends with them. And upon learning that (at least, they assumed) Sasuke had been killed alongside the rest of his clan, well… understandably, Naruto and Sakura's class went a little hectic.

The shouts and outbursts began to bleed into each other, until it was borderline impossible to make out any individual voices. Some of the girls even began to sob, and even a boy or two were found rubbing their eyes with the back of their hands.

This continued for about a minute, until…

" _Quiet!"_ Iruka bellowed, and the class settled down immediately; the effect he had on them was palpable, and even in a moment like that, he still managed to wield his authority over his class.

Iruka took a few deep breaths, blinking rapidly.

"I didn't get to finish." Iruka said, and the class waited with bated breath. "An unknown perpetrator slipped into the Uchiha compound, and killed every last person in the clan aside from… for some reason... Sasuke."

There was a collective sigh of relief, at the knowledge that their classmate hadn't been one of the fallen. Then… an unmistakable outcry of pity. "He's the only one left…" Sakura murmured to herself. "The only Uchiha."

' _He's just like me now.'_ Naruto thought, and he _hated_ himself for the mild feeling of elation he felt at that thought.

"Sasuke… likely will not return to class for quite a while." Iruka continued, and the class quieted down as he began to talk once more. "We've received word from the Hokage that he was not injured during the attack thankfully… but… but there's no telling what kind of things that he saw and experienced." Iruka shook his head slightly. "I want to stress on you all one important thing: when Sasuke comes back, please, _please_ do not hassle him; don't ask him anything about his family… don't pity him. Try to give him some space, and give him some room to recover from this horrific tragedy. Okay, everyone?"

"Okay." the class echoed back at him.

"The Hokage has informed us that a week of mourning is to be held." Iruka said solemnly. "A funeral for the clan is in the works as of right now, and you will all be notified when it occurs; I expect and hope that you all are present there." Iruka took a deep breath. "School will not be held after today until the week of mourning is over… all projects, overdue classwork, etcetera, will be forfeit - in other words, you won't have to worry about them." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Today… today, we can simply relax. And mourn our fallen comrades."

He didn't say anything after that, instead simply crossing the room and sitting down behind his desk. He placed his head in his hands… and didn't move for a long while.

Sakura and Naruto slowly looked at each other; for once in a lifetime, it seemed as if their thoughts were centered around the same thing. Just last night… they had seen Sasuke, they had been around him. He'd been… well, maybe not happy, but he had been content; he had been… _normal_.

And now, he was the furthest thing from that. What kind of kid could be normal after having their entire family disappear in the blink of an eye? Naruto was most certainly not normal, and he hadn't even been aware of what was happening when his family died.

Naruto and Sakura both looked away from each other, their gazes drifting downwards to the project still spread out across their table. At the top, in dried black ink, read Sasuke's neat signature.

"I guess… I guess we don't need this anymore." Naruto murmured, placing his hands on the sides of the paper.

Sakura shook her head. "No… I-I suppose not." she said, her voice a whisper.

It was silent in the classroom, a dreary aura having fallen over Naruto, Sakura, and their peers. What was there to talk about? All that had been needed to be said was already out in the air. Nobody felt like conversing… unlike the previous generation, theirs hadn't been afflicted with even the slightest hint of bias against the Uchiha, and so the loss of such a great and noble clan hit them as hard as if the loveable Akimichis or the energetic Inuzukas had met the same fate.

For perhaps ten minutes, Sakura was silent, staring at the surface of the desk as if it held the key to the universe's secrets. Then, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to the right, and emerald eyes met blue.

It was that blonde girl, Ino, who was standing in the aisle next to her, Sasuke, and Naruto's desk. In her hand was a rather large card. "Here," Ino said, and for the first time since Sakura could remember, her voice was quiet. "We're- we're making him a get well card." Her lip wobbled slightly.

Sakura accepted the card, a sort of pensive look in her eyes. The entire front had been swathed with get well messages already, and half of the inside was as well. Sakura swallowed, slipping a pen from her rucksack and poised it over the parchment.

It took her a moment to think about what she was going to write.

But when she did come up with it, she wrote it quickly, scribbling down her message in miniscule writing. Then, she signed it with her name.

"Here." Sakura said to Naruto, passing him the card - and her pen, since she knew it was unlikely that he had brought one of his own, or a pencil.

Naruto nodded, his lips pursed together. He took a good deal longer to write his message than Sakura, but it seemed as if he were choosing every word carefully. Sakura couldn't see what he was writing from the way his hand blocked her view. He closed the card carefully when he was done, and handed both it and the pen back to Sakura wordlessly; Sakura then gave the card to Ino. The blonde girl nodded respectfully, and then continued on to the next row.

Sakura and Naruto both looked at Sasuke's empty seat one last time; then, they looked at each other. After a moment, they looked away… and neither of them talked for the rest of the school day.

* * *

The knob turned, and with a loud ear splitting _screech_ , the door opened. Hiruzen visibly cringed as he peered into the room - it was as if the door had simply wanted to announce his entrance to the boy sitting on the other side.

Sasuke was sitting up in bed. Hiruzen had arranged to have him put inside a relatively isolated room in the hospital… mostly to keep him safe and secure, and to enable him to keep an eye on the boy. Hiruzen was exhausted; for most of that today, he'd been forced to clean up the mess left behind by the massacre… some of which consisted of breaking the news to the shinobi corps and the civilian population… and other things that would hopefully remained classified until further notice.

Hiruzen swallowed. The boy wasn't moving… he would have feared that Sasuke wasn't breathing if his keen eyes couldn't see the slight parting of his lips. He was just staring placidly out the window, his dark eyes like endless tunnels, his skin looking icy and cold. If you were to lay him side by side with a corpse, the differences would be almost unnoticeable.

Tsume's report had been disturbing to say the least. After her and the Inuzuka had managed to drive back Itachi, combined arms and the prodigy's exhaustion playing significant parts in that, they had conducted a brief search for Sasuke - and had found him hunched over the limp bodies of his parents, his knees and hands soaked in their blood.

Never in his life had he wished a fate for a boy so young. The reality of it was… horrific, for Sasuke had done _nothing_ to deserve something as heinous and awful as this. Hiruzen's stomach clenched in guilt, and he couldn't help but look away from the boy in shame.

But, he had a role to play; Sasuke couldn't remain ignorant to the massacre forever, and Hiruzen thought that he had best hear it from the Hokage himself. While he couldn't divulge the entire truth to the poor boy… at the very least, he could take it slow, and try to phrase the things he could tell him in a way that would lessen the impact in whatever small way he could.

Hiruzen swallowed for a second time… and decided to take that first step into the room, before even _his_ courage deserted him.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun." Hiruzen said, his voice gentle and as level as he could manage, phrased in a way that the Hokage hoped was soothing to the poor boy. "I… I trust that the sedatives helped you to sleep well."

The only movement Sasuke made to show that he had heard him was the slightest turn of his head. He lowered his jaw a tad, and his hair fell into his eyes, obscuring his blank gaze.

Hiruzen closed the door behind him; once again it _screeched_ , and he made a mental note to have whoever was supposed to oil these doors fired. The elderly man crossed the room with a few short steps, gently pulling a chair from a corner of the room and dragging it to Sasuke's bedside; he then sat down, taking off the Hokage's signature hat and setting it down on his lap.

Sasuke inhaled, and Hiruzen stilled. Once more, Sasuke turned his head… until he would have been looking at Hiruzen, had his shroud of black hair still not been covering his eyes.

"Were…" Sasuke began, and his voice sounded like a man who was dying of thirst. "Were there any other… s-survivors?"

Hiruzen frowned, directing his gaze down to the hat in his lap. "No." he said, deciding to be blunt. "You… you were the only one, Sasuke-kun; I'm afraid that we have found no one else in your family that managed to escape."

"... okay."

Hiruzen closed his eyes.

"On another no- note…" Hiruzen began, and for the first time, his voice shook slightly. "We have managed to… to uncover the identity of the man who did this, Sasuke-kun."

"... who?" Sasuke breathed.

For the third time in only so many minutes, Hiruzen swallowed. "Uchiha Itachi." he said. "All the evidence points to Uchiha Itachi being the one to do it."

There was a pause.

Sasuke raised his head, and Hiruzen saw that there was not a look of disbelief in his eyes, but a look of _refusal_.

"No!" Sasuke said, and his tone was firm this time. "No… nii-san… nii-san wouldn't do something like that; he wouldn't." His breathing began to quicken. "You're lying to me, you're lying...!"

"I'm not lying." Hiruzen said solemnly.

" _Shut up!"_ Sasuke snapped, sitting up. "You're lying, you have to be… nii-san wouldn't kill kaa-san, he wouldn't kill tou-san, he wouldn't kill _anyone_ who doesn't deserve it. Tell me who really did it! _Tell me!_ "

Hiruzen avoided his gaze. "I have already told you who did it, Sasuke-kun." he said softly.

"You-" Sasuke seemed to be too angry for words to describe it… he was quite literally _shaking_. But, Sasuke thought - he thought about how the Hokage had _never_ lied to him… he thought about how familiar those red eyes gleaming in the night had been… and he remembered that three pronged shuriken, the one that Sasuke knew he had seen in Itachi's eye. "No…" Sasuke whispered. Father had told him that the only way to obtain the second stage of the sharingan was to kill your best friend… Shisui… Itachi had- " _No_ …" Sasuke said. "He… couldn't… he… wouldn't…" His eyes were glistening with tears.

"I offer you my condolences." Hiruzen whispered.

The man expected for Sasuke to start bawling… or sobbing, or something of the sort; this wasn't the first time he had been forced to deliver the worst news a child could receive, after all.

What he didn't expect was for Sasuke to clamp up. His eyes… foggy like a crystal ball; his face stony and blank like unpolished marble. He leveled an unreadable look at Hiruzen, and had he been a lesser man, Hiruzen would have shuddered at it.

" _Get out."_ Sasuke growled.

Hiruzen sighed. "If you wish me to leave… I will." he said, standing up, gently placing his hat back upon his head. "The nurses will be around with dinner in a few short hours, Sasuke-kun." Hiruzen informed him, his voice still as soft as ever. "If you need anything… absolutely anything… do not hesitate to ask."

" _Get out…"_ Sasuke repeated, and there was true _malice_ in his voice.

"Just… one last thing." Hiruzen said, and he reached into the folds of his robes, pulling out a card that was covered from bottom to top in inked words and signatures. "Your classmates saw fit to put this together… I think they'd want you to have it." He put it in Sasuke's lap.

The elderly man closed his eyes… and turned his back to Sasuke. Pulling the screeching door open again, he stepped out, and closed it behind him without looking back.

Hiruzen tried to ignore the heart wrenching sobs that followed him down the corridor.. But he couldn't. He was the last of the Uchiha now, when just yesterday he'd been the ignored second son. Hiruzen couldn't imagine what he must be feeling, what he must going through… and that voice whispered inside of the Hokage's head, soft and malevolent- _'You did this to him.'_

He swallowed.

Then, speeding up, he strolled down the hallway, the sobs growing more and more distant until they were practically nonexistent.

Sasuke didn't remember the next hour or so; the grief, the sorrow, the torment… they all escaped him in one massive outbreak of tears and sobs that he just couldn't put the brain power to trying to remember.

When all was said and done though… he felt empty. As if a void had replaced where his heart and soul had been once upon a time.

"Nii-san…" Sasuke whispered, staring out the window.

His hands shaking, he picked up the card that Hiruzen had placed in his lap. He opened it; and it was filled with all sorts of meaningless 'get well' or 'hope you feel better' messages, as if he had gotten afflicted with the common cold or something menial of that sort.

Two messages jumped out at him.

 _You don't have to accept what happened if you don't want to. You don't have to do anything, Sasuke-kun. But you do_ _need_ _to move on… or you'll never be able to move past it. Get well soon. - Haruno Sakura_

 _My parents are… well… they're gone, too. It hurts to think about them, even if I didn't know them, so I kinda hope that it's easier since you knew them and all. I don't know. Try not to let it get to ya, Sasuke. - Uzumaki Naruto_

His hand shook.

Sasuke closed the card, and slammed it down on the table beside his hospital bed. He turned his back to it, staring out of the window with an expression bordering on malice.

When the nurse knocked on the door, he didn't answer.

When she stepped into the room, and slid a tray of dinner beside him, he didn't answer.

For a more than a few hours… Sasuke sat, as still as a statue, his gaze fixated on a point in the distance that didn't seem to exist to anyone else.

' _Nii-san…'_

* * *

 **And that is the end of yet another chapter - the big number five. Next chapter will likely have a good deal of focus on Naruto and Sakura, so if you're clamoring for more scenes with the two of them, stay tuned. Don't forget to leave a review, and as always, have an awesome day.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**I think you can agree that the last chapter or so had a rather obvious Uchiha focus, if not necessarily Sasuke focused. In any case, this chapter should change that for you-so, buckle up and enjoy. Don't forget to favorite and follow if you haven't, and to leave a review if you enjoy it.**

 **Here we go!**

* * *

The sun rose above the village, mighty and bright, basking all of the people below in the warmth and security it provided. A haven from the night, the darkness, from thieves and scoundrels that threatened to crawl out from their holes and take everything honorable and good away.

Naruto's morning started rather unfortunately-he heaved a great snore, rolled over, and inadvertently fell off the side of his bed, and onto the floor.

Thankfully he was made of tough stuff, and it with only a mildly sore arm that Naruto staggered to his feet. He yawned, yanked his sleeping cap off, and made for the shower; he hadn't even glanced at the clock, but already he figured that he was probably late to the academy. Best to get a start now, and not to spend time procrastinating like other people might.

Naruto stepped past the curtain, twisted the 'hot' knob to the left as far as it would go, and gasped as a flourish of icy cold water smacked him straight in the face. _That_ was a better wake up call than any floor-tumble could be, and he shook his head with a new clarity in his eyes.

The warm water soon came, and he let out a groan as steam began to fill the bathroom.

He was out in less than ten minutes, a towel wrapped around his waist and his blonde hair wet and hanging in his eyes.

Naruto toweled himself off, yanking on his academy clothes: a simple orange shirt and white shorts. Again, he didn't bother to look at the clock-he just hoped that he wasn't _too_ late, or Iruka-sensei would have his head.

He stepped out of his apartment, locked the door behind him, and went off onto the street.

There was a perk to being him, and that was the fact that he could get out of the door faster than any of his classmates could.

Quickly after the start of the semester, Naruto had come to learn that he didn't even need to bring anything to the academy with him. Iruka would almost always give out paper if they needed it-and Sakura always seemed to be four pencils on her at once. Lugging that heavy bookbag with him seemed pointless, so he just… _stopped_ doing it; so far, no one had pointed it out, or even cared. It was nice, and it made the walk to and from school a lot more enjoyable without the literal weight on his shoulders.

Actually he had come to realize that he could be really lax in general; they weren't learning much so early on in their school career, just simple stuff that he could half pay attention to. What was the point in learning the theory behind throwing a shuriken? Or reciting the first four Hokages' names over and over again, when he'd known who they were by heart for years now? It all seemed really stupid to him.

' _Why should I put any work in,'_ he reasoned, _'if all I get in return is a headache and like a five percent better grade?'_

It wasn't healthy reasoning perse, but, he _was_ only seven…

There were still a few people in front of the academy when he got there, but Naruto went unnoticed by them; he drifted through the thin crowd, unnoticed, unseen, unwanted. He ducked into the building, his footsteps echoing off of the wooden floors. There was no need for directions to get to his classroom-he knew the way there as if it was imprinted on the back of his hand, and he likely would until he stopped going to the academy and forgot about it a week afterward.

He stepped in, and shuffled to his seat; Naruto braced himself for the usual outburst of Iruka yelling at him for being late-but it never came.

Sakura blinked at him from her seat in the same row as his. "You're… here?" she said, eyes widening as she sat up in her chair.

Naruto gave her a curious look. "What'd you mean?" he asked.

"You're- you're _early_ , Naruto," Sakura whispered, sounding as if she were delivering the news of a loved one's death.

He gaped at her, casting a glance at the clock and then back at Sakura.

"R-really?" Naruto said. "I'm never early!"

"Are you alright?" Sakura questioned. "Did you fall or something this morning?"

"You know, come to think about it," Naruto murmured, rubbing his chin, "I did fall out of bed. Maybe I'm in some alternate universe where I wake up early every day!"

"Yesterday you showed up half an hour late," Sakura said swiftly. "So I don't think that's true."

"Aww." Naruto deflated, like a balloon punctured by a needle. "That would've been awesome too… I hate those stupid headaches Iruka-sensei gives me when I get yelled at for being late."

"Wake up earlier then," Sakura murmured.

"It's not that easy, Sakura-chan!" Naruto insisted. "Trying to get up early would be like asking you to sleep in!"

"Is that so?" Sakura felt a thin smile curl her lips. "I hear there's this thing called an 'alarm' that helps people get up earlier; you should try it out."

Naruto whined. "I have an alarm, Sakura-chan, but I just sleep right through them! It sucks."

"Well-"

Just then, Iruka stood up from his desk, strode to the front of the room, and cleared his throat at the loudest possible tone he could before it sounded as if he were dying. The room-which a moment before had been filled with conversation-fell silent.

"I guess I wasn't _that_ early…" Naruto mumbled as he slid into his seat.

The third seat in their row remained empty.

"I understand that the past few days have been rather hectic," Iruka began, "and today, I want to bring back some semblance of normalcy. And to remind _all_ of you that we still have exams in a few months, I have here the things that I know _every_ student dreads…"

There was a collective intake of breath; the entire class seemed poised on the edge of their seats, waiting, beckoning Iruka to spill the beans on what he had.

"... your report cards."

They'd already gotten their progress reports, but that had been in the first few weeks when everything was fine and dandy, or in other words when all they had to do for classwork was the most basic of basic things.

This time, well… it was a different story.

Half of the class groaned; the other half put their heads down on the desk and refrained from the urge to cry. One alone, Sakura, beamed triumphantly and put on her best haughty look-which, for the record, a seven year old with a baby face and pink hair could not pull off.

Iruka smiled merrily. "I'm going to come around and pass them to you," he said curtly. And he did exactly that-working his way, row by row, student by student, until finally…

He gave Sakura her grade first, and she let out a little squeal of delight as she saw the grades. Predictably, they were all abnormally high-except in the physical activities department, but those weren't failing grades eat the very least.

Iruka took Naruto's paper off of the stack and glanced at it; he grimaced, smiled apologetically at him, then set the thin parchment face down in front of Naruto.

Naruto's hand shook as he reached forward and gently flipped it over.

It wasn't anything as horrid as _all_ zeros, but…

Well, to put it as plainly as possible, he had not done well. Actually, he'd failed every subject aside from the physical ones, and even those were below average.

"B-but… I thought-" Naruto began.

"Uzumaki..." Iruka sighed, and shook his head. "You turned in none of the homework I assigned; your scores on every quiz and test were pitiful, and suffice to say, I'm surprised that you even managed to scrape together a passing grade in _one_ subject. You need to work on your discipline and getting your work done, or else I can't see you making it to the second year."

Iruka leveled one last disapproving look at Naruto, before he continued down the room. The blonde stared at his paper, dumbfounded, his eyes wide and his mouth still agape.

Sakura scooted to the side, and blatantly looked at his grades. "Ouch." She grimaced. "That is not good."

His mouth felt rather dry. "Yeah," Naruto mumbled, "you could say that again, Sakura-chan. I didn't even know we had homework!"

"It's right there on the board," Sakura said. "Everyday; it takes like ten minutes to do for each subject, and it makes up like twenty percent of the grade. You _seriously_ didn't know that we had homework in here? It's been like that since the second week or so."

The fact that he stared about the large, obvious section of the chalkboard that read 'Homework' at the top in shining white kanjii proved that no, he did _not_ realize that it had been there at all, let alone for weeks.

"Not to mention half of the questions that were on the homework ended up on the tests and quizzes too," Sakura stated. "Jeez-it's almost like you were _trying_ to fail," she murmured, as she cast another glance at his grades before she scooted back to her place at the desk.

"I- I wasn't." Naruto mumbled. "I just thought-" He paused, and then shrugged. "I don't really know what I thought, I guess; I just figured I'd be able to coast through the first few months."

"You know, that explains a lot," Sakura said aloud-she thought back to the project, where Naruto had basically bumbled about and drew stick figures while she and-

She cut that train of thought right there, shaking her head.

"Help me, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pleaded, and he turned toward her with fear in his eyes. "I can't fail the first year of the academy, I can't, I can't!"

She pursed her lips together. "You brought this on yourself," she said… at first, before Sakura cast another look at his desperate expression and relented.

Sakura sighed.

"Alright, fine. I guess I could help you out a little… just a little," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm sure we could find some time for me to like, tutor you if you wanted."

"Really?" Naruto beamed, like a puppy that had just been given a belly rub. "Yay! Thank you, Sakura-chan!"

Her smile was thin, but evident nonetheless. Great… she sensed that him being able to coerce her to do innately difficult things so easily was going to become a regular occurance.

Suddenly, Naruto paused. "Uh, can we not do it at my house?" he said. "I… um… don't want to do it there."

Sakura's smile turned into a prominent frown. "You didn't have a problem with me and… um… you didn't have a problem with me coming over last time," she said wisely.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "I had to spend all day cleaning up my house for that," he said, "and it's already dirty again. Can't we just do it at your house instead?"

There was a pause, as she deliberated it.

' _I just hope her parents don't throw me out if she agrees to it,'_ Naruto thought, and he had to bite back the look of pain that threatened to flash across his eyes. He had really never been _kicked_ out of anywhere-but then again, he'd never been inside of another person' house; it was one thing to enter a store, where the shop owner would take your money whether it was a nobleman or Naruto, but it was another thing to enter someone's private residence.

Naruto swallowed, and awaited Sakura's response. Already he was putting together the list of things he would have to clean up in preparation for her arrival-the ramen cups, the underpants, the cayron marks from when she had left them at his house after they'd finished the project the other day… kami, it was going to take him all night at this rate, and he was sure that he was missing quite a few things from his list, too

"Hmm," Sakura hummed. "Alright, I guess you could come over to my house," she said.

He blinked. "Really?" Naruto said, and he grinned at her. "You wouldn't mind?"

"My parents are going out to dinner tonight," Sakura said, "so I should be able to spend a few hours tutoring you; after that you'll have to go, though." She leveled an almost sisterly look at him. "There's no way your coming into my room, and I don't want my parents to know that I brought a _boy_ over."

"I'm fine with that!" he exclaimed, to the ire of several of his nearby classmates who shot glares at him. "You're awesome, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I know," she said, "and make sure you _copy down the homework today_. I'll help tutor you for the classwork, but the homework you have to do on your own. Deal?"

"Deal!"

He opened his mouth to speak more, but Sakura raised a hand to stop him. Iruka had finished passing out the grades, and had once taken up his position at the front of the classroom.

The lesson began as Iruka turned to the chalkboard, picked up a piece of chalk, and began to scribble down their goals for the day…

… which seemed to drag on, and on. Naruto suddenly remembered why he had been so eager to daydream the entire week. Still-for Sakura-chan-he forced himself to pay attention, even if three-fourths of what Iruka-sensei said still went over his head.

When class was finally dismissed, Naruto swore that a piece of his soul was restored in that instance. He stood up with a flourish, and raised his hands as if he were talking to the kami themselves.

"I _hate_ the academy," he declared, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Not that anyone really cared-they were too busy shuffling out of the classroom to pay any notice to him. Even Iruka would rather finish cleaning off the chalkboard than glance at the blonde.

Sakura stood as well, pursed her lips together, and shook her head.

"Did you get down the homework?" she asked.

Naruto grinned, and scrawled down the homework on the board with a pencil-which he'd borrowed from her earlier in the day. "I sure did!" Naruto said, picking up the paper and brandishing it in her face.

Sakura shook her head once more. "Let me see that," she said. He handed her the paper.

She took it, and began to write on it-small, neat, orderly handwriting. It was the perfect kind, small enough to be cramped yet not so tiny as to be unreadable. Naruto couldn't help but be envious of just how amazing her writing was; maybe it was just a girl thing, to be that good at it. He wasn't sure.

"Here," Sakura said, pressing the paper into his hands.

Naruto looked at it; _'Directions?'_ he thought. It was filled with things like 'take the first right and then second left'.

"What's this for?" Naruto asked. "Aren't you just gonna take me there?"

"My parents are still going to be home for a little while," Sakura said. "Just wait an hour or two and then use those directions to get to my house-all you need to do is come back here to the front of the academy, then follow instructions on the paper." She began to gather up her things, and a few moments later she was ready to go. "I'll see you later, Naruto," Sakura said, before she slid out of the row and hurried out the classroom.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck.

' _I'm going to Sakura-chan's house,'_ he thought. _'I really hope I don't make an idiot of myself…'_

With a sigh, he balled up the paper with directions (and homework) on it, stuffed it into his pocket, and then left the classroom behind her.

* * *

He spent the first hour doing… well, not much actually. A few menial things, like scribbling down a rudimentary grocery shopping list and pasting it to his refrigerator. He tried to find a few things that he had lost, like a kunai he had managed to snag from the academy, but they seemed to be forever trapped in the filthy depths of his room.

Needless to say, it was an incredibly boring hour.

For the second hour he tried to get a start on that homework, smoothing out the crumpled up piece of paper and trying to make heads or tails of what to do with it..

' _Write a two paragraph essay on how and why Konoha was defeated by enemy shinobi in the early stages of the Third Shinobi World War.'_

It was really too bad that Naruto _hated_ history.

He tried and failed to start on said essay; the best of his attempts could probably have been summed up better by a four year old who cracked open a dictionary. "Ugh! This is dumb!" Naruto declared, and he threw the pencil in his hand at the opposite wall without remorse.

By the time an hour and a half had passed, Naruto was ready to throw in the towel and go to Sakura's house. Still, he didn't want to make her mad or something by showing up before her parents left-so he spent another half an hour figuratively staring at the wall before he set out.

The sun was already beginning to set. He proceeded quickly, the paper with SAkura's directions clasped in his hand, the blonde making his way to the academy as fast as his tiny frame could carry him. Once he was there, he started to follow the instructions-they were simple, direct, to the point, and it was only twenty minutes after he'd first left his house that Naruto came to a stop in front of a small house.

It was squeezed between a few houses on the streets; it was maybe only a little larger than his own apartment, but the fact that it was two stories probably helped when it came to space issues.

Naruto swallowed. He double checked that this was the right house by rereading Sakura's once, and then again; before his nerves could get to him any further than they already had, Naruto swept forward, extended a hand, and knocked on the door.

His mouth felt like the Suna desert as he waited. He wiped his hands down on the side of his shorts.

Then, after what seemed to be an eternity, the door swung open; pink hair, and apple green eyes stared at him.

"Hi," Sakura said.

"Hi."

She smiled, an anxious look in her eyes. "Come in, I guess," she said, stepping to the side.

Naruto grinned nervously. "It's a- nice house." he said, as he glanced around the foyer. Everything was so… weird. A lot of things seemed to contrast-one thing would be bright orange (which he swooned at) while another would be a forest green. It seemed democratic in a way, as if two different people would add what they wanted to the decor without the ability to remove the other person's addition.

"You think it's ugly, don't you?" Sakura said, smile growing ever so slightly. "Don't worry-I think the same, but my parents won't hear it."

"Oh… um… okay," Naruto said. He coughed into his hand. "So, where are you gonna like-uh-tutor me?" he asked.

Sakura brushed a curl of pink hair behind her ear; it took a moment, but she managed to put together a dignified look. "Follow me," she said, and he did-Sakura lead him from the front door, through the living room, and into the dining room where she had cleared off the table.

Well, mostly cleared it off. There were quite a few thick books stacked atop of the table; the one on top read, in clear bold letters, 'A Comprehensive History of Konoha: From Founding to Today'

"History?" Naruto hissed. He sounded like a hermit that had been dragged by the feet to the center of a town square, for all the peasants to ogle at. "This wasn't what we talked about!"

Sakura smiled, sliding into a chair. "Sit down, Naruto," she said, voice sweet like berries… berries that would require medical attention within ten minutes of ingestion, unless one wanted to die from the poison stored within.

He was weak; and he sensed that it was less of a request, and more of an order.

Naruto dropped into the seat opposite Sakura like a bag of rocks.

She hefted the book with a strength that belied her tiny frame, and flipped open to the the Third Shinobi War section of the book. "We'll start with what Iruka-sensei was going over in class today," she said.

Naruto had to choke back a sob.

Sakura grinned, and began to plow right through the text-laden, pictureless introduction to the war.

"Tensions rose in the early years of the uneasy status quo created after the Second Shinobi War…"

It went on.

And on.

He- he didn't know how he managed to make it through it.

All that time that could have been spent doing things, _fun_ things, productive things, not… this. Were the trees still green outside? Did the wind still blow? Naruto couldn't remember-all he had bouncing around inside of his head was the exact political situation was when the first few battles between Konoha and Iwa played out.

He was ruined.

Destroyed.

Kami help him.

They lost track of time-Naruto couldn't even bring himself to look at the clock after a while, and Sakura was enjoying herself far too much for him to be comfortable with it.

"-that was our plan anyway," Sakura was saying. "It didn't quite work out-logistical problems, poor execution, not to mention a thunderstorm, all of those things lead to our first major defeat in the war. After that-"

The front door opened-they heard it, but it just seemed… _not_ to register to either one of them; at least, not until Sakura's mother had entered the kitchen, a plastic takeout box in her hand.

"Oh, hi," Mebuki said. "I didn't know you were having a friend over, Sakura."

"Uh- I guess I forgot to tell you guys." Sakura laughed nervously, and blanched as Kizashi stepped up to Mebuki's side, entirely silent.

Naruto took the chance and went with it; it didn't occur to him for a moment that Sakura might be in trouble. "I was just leaving anyway!" he chirped. "Thanks for having me over, Sakura!"

He looked straight at Mebuki and Kizashi-and they saw Naruto in his entirety. His whiskers. His shockingly blonde hair. The boy was unmistakable for anyone else; unique in his own way, which was a good thing and a bad thing… mostly bad at this point.

Naruto hadn't brought anything with him, so he merely grinned, stood up, and walked right past Sakura's parents. They heard the front door open and close a few moments later.

"Oh, sweetie!" Mebuki whispered, voice hoarse-she threw herself forward, and wrapped her arms around Sakura protectively. "You should have told us he was coming over… oh kami… to think about what could have happened."

"Huh? What's up, Mom?" Sakura asked.

"That boy-well, I- I guess he seems like an alright kid," Mebuki said, "but the _risks_. A shinobi friend told us about what could happen if he gets angry or emotional; and we don't, we _don't_ want you to be anywhere near him if or when that happens, Sakura."

"What we're trying to say," Kizashi spoke up. "Is that you need to stay away from him Sakura. The only thing you'll do is put yourself in danger by interacting with him; I get that you might be helping him with his work and all, but he'll have to deal with that on his own from now on."

"B-but-" Sakura began.

"Frankly, I'm disappointed with you, Sakura," Kizashi continued. "There's no problem with bringing your friends over-in fact, if it had been anyone else it would have been fine. But out of all the people you could have brought over, it had to be _him_?"

Mebuki let go of Sakura and put her hands on her hips. "If I wasn't so relieved that nothing happened, I'd be sorely tempted to ground you young lady!" she said sternly. "You'd better tell us if you're going to have someone over next time, alright?"

Sakura opened her mouth to speak-but wisely, she decided not to say anything. Rather, she just nodded her head, and lowered her gaze.

"Good," Mebuki said. "Now, what do you want to do for dinner tomorrow, honey?" she asked, turning to Kizashi. A reply was waiting on his lips.

Her parents began to converse, and she was left out of the decision-making process for dinner. Sakura sat there in her chair and…

She thought.

' _What could be so bad about spending time around Naruto…?'_ Sakura mused.

It would be a long time before she even began to find out what that could possibly be.

* * *

 **A (relatively) short, sweet chapter. And no, to the dozen people who bother to read this, this is not filler-pretty much everything had a purpose here, even if some of it is minor.**

 **It'll probably be a while before I'm ready to post the next chapter, but I still recommend you stay tuned. Don't forget to follow and favorite the story if you haven't already, and to leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading; and as always, have an awesome day!**


	7. Chapter 7

**It's been a while since I've updated this; I can already tell that this is just one of those stories, xD. I do plan to keep updating it, but updates might be kind of sparse - my apologies for that. Still, things are moving, and it won't be long before we're on to the real action. In the meantime, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

They allowed him to leave approximately two days after _it_ happened; after all, he had no injuries to speak of… at least, not physical ones. A quick checkup had been enough to confirm that, and without parents or a guardian, and the Hokage too busy cleaning up the diplomatic and domestic mess that his family's slaughter had caused, there was no one to sign off on an extended stay. Even the most empathetic doctor simply had to clutch their wrists and watch him walk through those hospital doors.

It was quiet in the village — were people still in shock over what had happened? Or had it simply always been this quiet? He didn't know. A faceless jounin was waiting for him outside of the hospital, there to tell him that the Hokage had given him an apartment to live in until further notice, giving the boy the key to the apartment and directions on how to get there. After that, the jounin simply up and left.

One would assume that the first place he would go was his new apartment — but, he didn't.

To go to an empty apartment, the shelves stocked with bland food, an ANBU perched outside to watch him, and nothing but bleakness and loneliness to await him. No… he didn't want to face the reality of what his new situation entailed. Closure was something that he needed — and he strived for any little bit that he could get.

The walk to the compound was a long one. No one paid him any mind as he went there, though he was sure that an ANBU was on his trail. Not that he could see them — a boy of seven, Uchiha or not, would be hard pressed to see a shinobi of that caliber, especially if they did not want to be found.

He expected the worst to await him, but it was strangely… placid. There was tape pulled across the entrance to the compound, which read 'Do not enter. Trespassers will be fined.'

But this was his home. No small bit of tape would stop him.

He ducked beneath it, staring about the compound. It was empty. Nothing like it had been on that night, or even before. The streets scrubbed clean of blood. The bodies carried out on stretchers, to be brought to the morgue and catalogued. There was that putrid stench of ammonia in the air, which reminded him of his time in the hospital a little too much for comfort.

"Stay calm," he told himself. But it was impossible to stop the way his lip seemed predisposed to wobble. Or how watery his eyes seemed to be.

A step forward. Then another. Soon, he was walking, striding forward as quickly as he could. His breathing seemed unnaturally quick, and the thudding of his heart in his ears gave the impression that the compound was much less quiet than it actually was.

Not a thing moved. No animals had seen fit to desecrate the home of his clan; at least, not yet. No people moved here, their inhabitants already in the process of being buried — there had simply been too many casualties to host near a hundred funerals, one after the other. Or so most people figured.

The fires that had broken out — springing up from unattended ovens or wiring that had been ripped out of the walls during the brief battles throughout the night - had eaten away much of the compound. The houses that weren't blackened and burnt were… exposed. The doors open, the curtains thrown wide, as if to show the blatant emptiness inside of them.

His house was near the center of the compound; the scene of the final battle of the night, where Tsume and her clan had chased off the attacker — who had, presumably, come to take out the clan member who had been out of his grasp until then.

The door to it was wide open, just like every other door in the compound was.

The house… barren. His parent's bodies had been taken away, replaced by chalk outlines to help investigators piece together what had happened. He could still see it now; his father's body draped across the floor, his mother cradling him before her own impending doom… their blood mixing, spreading out across the hardwood — embedded so deeply that even the strongest of chemicals couldn't get rid of that crimson tinge to the wood.

He fell to his knees, a thunk of wood echoing through the empty house as he slammed his fist against the floor.

 _Uchiha Sasuke_ took a deep breath.

"M-mom…" he whispered, his voice hoarse. "D-dad..."

He lowered his head, pressing his forehead against the floor where their bodies had laid. For a moment, he could _almost_ feel the blood that ran across these floors not too long ago.

"I-I should have been here… I should have stopped whoever did this." His fingers curled into balls, his teeth clamping together. "T-they said it was nii-san who did this. But how could he? He loved you… he loved me… he wouldn't have. He _couldn't_ have."

He didn't expect them to talk back; ghosts couldn't reply to the cries of the living, something that Sasuke was well aware of. But it didn't hurt to try and confide in them; even if the next time he saw them would be at their graves.

"I don't know who did this, Mom, Dad. I don't think they want me to know." He took a deep breath. "But when I find out… I'll kill them. I'll make you proud, Dad… I'll avenge your memory, Mom…"

Another deep breath.

"I _promise_ …"

He almost broke out into sobs again - but he managed to stop himself. To collect himself. To pull together the pieces of what had once been Uchiha Sasuke, and to try to prevent that once innocent boy from falling apart in the place where his parents had perished.

He failed.

But after a moment of incoherent sobbing, of tears dripping down onto the crimson-tinged wood, he managed to put himself back together — with rope so thin as to nearly be wire, but at the very least he managed to stop the crying.

Sasuke found himself rising to his feet. A breeze flowed through the open window, lifting his hair up for a moment before it drifted back down. His eyes were red, his cheeks stained with tear marks.

His footsteps, skin slapping against hardwood, echoed throughout the building. He went to the living room first, and then to the mantle. A collection of photographs stared back at him. A picture of he and Itachi, the latter hefting Sasuke up on his back. Fugaku and Mikoto at their wedding, his father _smiling_ in a way that would seem impossible. A picture of Shisui and Itachi, the older boy's arm slung over Itachi's shoulder, a grin on his face.

No, this wouldn't do, Sasuke thought. It wasn't… whole enough.

The other room; Itachi's room. It was barren, empty, just like the rest of the house. All that was there was an empty photo frame - Sasuke remembered that it had once held a picture of he and his brother. He didn't think much of it, going back into the other room.

HIs parent's bedroom was where his 'prize' lay. A photograph, on his mother's nightstand.

He, Itachi, Mother and Father. The four of them, together, in life. Not smiling - not even looking happy, aside from Mikoto who was beaming. But they were all there. There were a family.

They were alive… whole… unaffected by the tragedy that would befall them. It was the family that he _wanted_ to remember, not two outlines of chalk and a false accusal of mass murder.

His mother had a box of candles stashed away in a drawer, and a lighter to light them. He took these things into the room where they had died, his hands shaking so much that he almost dropped them.

There was no time to make a proper shrine. But this would have to do.

He set the photograph up atop a table. A candle, carefully positioned on either side of it. And then, he lit the candles.

Sasuke inhaled, clasping his hands together.

"I won't forget you," he whispered, his tone dripping with vehemence. "I- I won't. You're my family. I'll never forget you. Never. Never. _Never_."

A bit of wax leaked down the side of the candle, collecting into something that vaguely resembles a tear drop - it fell, landing on the back of his hand.

But no tears dripped down Sasuke's cheeks.

There was this look in his eyes. One that had no right to mar a seven year old boy's face.

His words from earlier echoed in his head.

" _I don't know who did this, Mom, Dad...but when I find out… "_

" _...I'll kill them."_

* * *

She twirled a strand of pink hair around her finger.

Naruto lowered his head, avoiding the possibility of even _looking_ at her.

Sakura sighed.

It might come as a surprise: but a seven year old girl who had never known an authority figure other than her parents might have been inclined to listen to their warnings about Naruto, whether they were founded or not.

She hadn't… flat out told him that it was her parents who had told her to stay away from him. But she'd started to stealthily edge away from him — dodging his questions about their next study session, working with Hinata instead of him, among other things.

It hurt. It _really_ hurt to do that to Naruto — sweet, little Naruto who didn't have a mean bone in his body as far as Sakura could see. But it was her parents. How… how could they be wrong?

They still sat at the same desk. But that (usually) empty space between them, where Sasuke sat, showed exactly where they stood with each other as of right now.

The two of them expected the same thing to happen, as it had for the past few days: they would sit in discomfort for the entire day, not even looking at each other, not talking to each other past Naruto asking for a pencil or an answer he'd missed. Over a week had passed since the Uchiha massacre, and life had been altered quite significantly for the two of them. They had no idea of what was to come — and so, they continued to ignore each one another.

Funnily enough, they were _too_ busy going out of their way to ignore each other to realize that today was going to be very, very different.

How?

Well, Sasuke was sitting right between them — immobile — his gaze fixated on the chalkboard ahead. He made not a word, skin deathly pale, so still that he seemed to not be breathing. Even if one were to _look_ for him it would be hard to pick him out.

They didn't notice he was there. Sakura looked to the left, Naruto to the right, and perhaps the only sign he was there absent of sound was the absence of warmth.

And then…

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

"... here."

A placid voice — or rather, _empty_. Like shaking a milk carton to not hear the slosh of liquid inside; devoid of any volume, emotion, _anything_.

Both Naruto and Sakura jumped in their seats; collectively, at least four-fifths of the class wheeled around to look at him. Sasuke did not respond though, rather, he simply stared ahead at the chalkboard with that blank gaze of his.

Iruka cleared his throat. "Uzumaki Naruto?"

The blonde in question blinked, mouth agape like a fish out of the pond.

"Uzumaki Naruto…!"

"Oh- uh… yeah, yeah I'm here, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said hurriedly, still unable to tear his gaze away from Sasuke.

The roll call went on. _Most_ of the kids looked back toward their friends or Iruka, though it would be impossible to miss the muttering under their breath. Sakura and Naruto seemed transfixed by Sasuke. Unable to tear their eyes away from him, emerald and blue gazing into abyssal black ones that would not look back.

Sasuke's lip curled downward — the only hint of emotion he'd shown thus far.

"Stop staring at me," he said flatly.

They didn't.

Sakura gulped. "Sa- Sasuke-kun…?" she said, her voice cautious. She sounded as if she were attempting to tiptoe around a particularly feisty grizzly bear.

He didn't answer.

Naruto and Sakura exchanged a terse glance; whatever problems they'd had between each other seemed to vanish in the presence of Sasuke. How could they worry about other things when their (maybe) friend was sitting there… only a week or so removed from the untimely death of his _entire family_?

In a way, _that_ was the reason Naruto and Sakura's friendship didn't cease in the academy.

Soon, class began. Sakura was swept ahead by taking notes and listening to Iruka — though she always had one eye focused on Sasuke. But Naruto's full and undivided attention was focused on the Uchiha. It wasn't like he ever paid that much mind to the class anyway.

Naruto recall what he knew about Sasuke. He hadn't been an expressive person by any means, but he hadn't been… _this_. Surly and antisocial would have described Sasuke before _it_ happened, but now, he seemed a different person. A blank canvas — no emotion, no depth, nothing reveal on the outside aside from the faintest downward curl of his lips. His earthly pale skin, dark hair, and dark eyes didn't help that picture.

A mask of sorts. A way to hold back the pain of what had happened, Naruto deduced. And Sakura was only a few minutes behind on that conclusion.

At lunch, Sasuke didn't even have anything to eat. Naruto and Sakura silently hatched in a corner of the room - backs to the walls, lunches tucked beneath their arms, gazes fixated on the distant Uchiha.

"He's just… sitting there," Naruto murmured.

"What would you expect him to do?" Sakura asked. "I wonder why he doesn't have any lunch, though."

Naruto swallowed. "Probably because his Mom…"

"Oh." Sakura's throat felt strangely dry after that. "Right."

Impending silence bloomed for a long moment.

"Do you think we should… talk to him?" Naruto suggested.

Sakura shrugged. "We could try," she said softly. "I wonder if he got the class's messages? Actually - I wonder if he read _ours_."

"Maybe," Naruto mumbled, pursing his lips together.

There was a footstep to their side.

Naruto and Sakura turned to face… Iruka.

He had a hand on his hip, his face blank and yet his eyes full of… pity? It seemed like it. Though his gaze was directed in Sasuke's direction.

"I'm glad you two haven't… disturbed him too much," Iruka said, crouching down so that he was at their height. "But I want to level with the both of you. I know that you were… well, _friends_ with Sasuke - but I think it's best if we all gave him some room to breath."

"But, Iruka-sensei-!" Sakura protested.

"Listen," Iruka said, and his tone was stern now. "I know you want to help him. But there has to be a grace period, okay?" He took a breath. "I doubt he wants to talk to _anyone_ now. Just give him some time. A week, a few days, just _something_ so that he can recuperate. Can you promise me that much?"

The two kids glanced at each other. It was clear that neither of them wanted to leave their friend alone like that - but it was just as clear that Iruka wasn't just asking them.

"Yes, Iruka-sensei," the two choursed. "We promise."

Iruka put a hand on his hip, nodding firmly. "Good," he murmured. "Naruto, you still need to turn in the homework from the other day; Sakura, I've got your test grade back, so remind me when we get back in the class and I'll give it to you."

They both nodded, and with that Iruka walked away.

Of course, they _had_ made their promise to Iruka - but that didn't mean they had to circumvent it. Really, their next action was a spur of the moment sort of thing; they both glanced down at their lunches, then at Sasuke, and then at each other.

Together, they began their walk towards Sasuke. Iruka saw them immediately - and he gave them this heated _glare_ that would have terrified them at any other point. But this time they stayed resolute.

Sakura and Naruto stopped on either side of Sasuke, who sat alone at a table. The way he tensed suggested that he knew they were there; but, he didn't even turn to look at them. He spoke not a word, instead clenching his teeth and glaring at the surface of the table.

Naruto acted first - and he slid his lunch, a small tupperware with a sandwich inside, in front of Sasuke. Sakura was next - and she put her lunch right beside it, a bento specially prepared by her mother.

"Y-you need to eat," Sakura said, her voice cracking a little.

"Yeah!" Naruto said. "Uh… just… eat up! And you can… talk to us when you're ready."

He glowered at them for a moment, until silently, they edged away.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when they put ten meters in between the two of them and Sasuke.

"He's scary," Naruto muttered.

"He is not scary…!" Sakura told him. "He's just — uh… intimidating."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

She shrugged.

Sasuke stared at the lunches arrayed in front of him for a long moment; he could almost feel their eyes, Naruto and Sakura's, staring right at his back in turn.

Gently, he opened up the bento, and began to eat.

Sakura and Naruto smiled at each other — and, in a moment of _victory_ perhaps, high fived the other. Even that little bit of ground gained was better than none at all, right?

That was until the next day, of course. It followed a pattern laid down by the previous one, with Naruto and Sakura not wanting/being unable to bring themselves to talk to Sasuke, despite the fact that he sat between the two of them. He was a shadow; they even had to talk past him, discussing a date for when Sakura could go over to Naruto's house for tutoring (though in reality they would likely spend the time talking about Sasuke). Though things remained more or less 'normal'.

Until lunch, that is. Naruto had another tupperware with a simple sandwich inside; Sakura had another bento, specially prepared by her mother. And they were poised, _perfectly_ ready to give Sasuke their lunch in the event that he didn't have one — but this time, he did. A few rice balls wrapped in a cloth — and truly, they must have tasted absolutely awful.

"Why's he eating _that_ crap?" Naruto mumbled.

Sakura glanced at him. "I think it's pretty obvious," she said. "He'd do _anything_ to not have to eat food we offer him…"

"Why's that?"

"Beats me," Sakura said, shrugging.

They sat down at a table together, and began to eat. The room was loud, filled with the talking of vast groups of friends that could occupy two tables; people walked from table to table, either sitting down with their foods or visiting multiple people they knew. Naruto and Sakura were alone at their table, aside from Hinata, who satly sat at the opposite end — they didn't even notice her.

And Sasuke sat his table, eating alone.

* * *

Later that same day...

 _Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk._

A small section of the class — those that had been paying attention to Sasuke rather than their work, which was the norm for quite a few people unused or unwilling to physical activity — collectively gasped.

"Wow! Good job, Sasuke!" Iruka came up behind the sullen boy, clapping his hands together excitedly. "Now, don't think I forgot — I _did_ promise that the first person to hit the target board with all of their kunai would get a special surprise…!"

Which wasn't anything extravagant — a free one-hundred percent test grade put on his record. For someone who got A's either way and had no one to look at his report card anymore, it was a little underwhelming… not that he cared either way.

Sakura stared at Sasuke for a moment, as the class' attention ebbed and Iruka went over to break up a fight between Kiba and some boy. She bit her lip; her cheeks turned the slightest hint of pink, and she looked back at her target board. Which she shared with her partner.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto chirped. "Were you thinkin' about Sasuke, again?"

"H-huh?" she said, whirling around to face her blonde friend. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You were looking over in his direction," he murmured. "And you had this… look on your face."

"A look?"

"I don't know how to describe it," Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But it's kind of — uh… um… I don't know the word for it."

"Then compare it to something you _do_ know," Sakura said.

"It's kind of like the look that Ino gives Sasuke whenever she looks at him," Naruto murmured. "It's… squinty? And your cheeks turn pink and you bite your lip and look away… what's it mean?"

Sakura's cheeks — as one might expect — turned pink once again.

"It's nothing," she said hurriedly. "I suppose Yamanaka-san and I are just worrying about Sasuke, that's all."

"Oh, okay." Naruto was clever when he wanted to be, but it had always been hard for him to look underneath the underneath… not that the truth about the situation wasn't obvious to anyone who had a semblance of social skills. Pity that Naruto _lacked_ said social skills…

"We should decide when we're going to talk to him next," Sakura said, quickly trying to cover up her embarrassment. "How does next week sound?"

"It's only Tuesday…"

"So?" Sakura murmured. "We give him a week, then we try to get him to open up on Monday. That should keep Iruka-sensei happy — if it was up to me we'd go up to him right now, but… well…"

"... Iruka-sensei would kick the crap out of us... " Naruto mumbled.

"He wouldn't go that far," Sakura told him. "But we should probably be a bit cautious, no?"

"Cautious?"

"Huh?"

"What's that mean?"

Sakura was just as young as Naruto — but a book fiend at the same time; her vocabulary was _easily_ one of someone twice her age. Naruto, on the other hand… he was about as allergic to books as he was to vegetables — that was to say, he wouldn't touch one unless it was required for school work, and even then it was a fifty-fifty chance.

"It means to uh… be… careful with things."

"Oh, okay," Naruto said. "Are you gonna take your turn then, Sakura-chan?"

"Sure," she murmured. Clutching her kunai in her hand, she allowed them to fly — _Thunk. Thunk._

Sakura stepped to the side — Naruto went next; he clutched his own kunai, and allowed them to fly. _Thunk._

"Woo-hoo!" Naruto cheered. "I got one!"

Sakura smiled; secretly, she couldn't help but think about how much _cooler_ Sasuke had looked throwing his shuriken compared to her or Naruto. It was so… strange. Whenever she looked in his direction, her worries about him seemed to ebb a little; she didn't have an explanation for _why_.

She gulped, for it was doubtful that she would come up with an explanation either way.

Sakura glanced back in Sasuke's direction, and yet again, he'd managed to hit all five kunai on his target. Iruka was praising him, and there he was, a blank and placid look on his face, seemingly uninterested in the fact that he was _easily_ the best in the class at the activity…

"... so cool…" she murmured.

"Don't worry about him, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Next week, we can kick down the walls he's tryna put up and make him our friend again. Don't you doubt us!"

Sakura's cheeks pinkened. "I believe you, Naruto," she said. "I just hope Sasuke's alright."

"Me too," he said. "Me too."

Sakura shook her head, _tore_ her gaze away from the sullen Uchiha, and went to throw another volley of kunai…

It would be one week until the members of the future Team Seven interacted once more.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. As always, I'd love to get some reviews from you guys - and I'd also love for you to favorite, follow, and tell your friends about the story if you like it. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for reading, and cheers!  
**


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